The Change-up
by AlyDhampir
Summary: This is the vampire academy books as you love them, but different ( These characters are the work of Richelle mead)
1. Dimitri's turn: Chapter 1

**_Hi Guys this is my new story, it has been in my brain for awhile but I'm finally finished Buria, so I decided to start work on this!_**  
><strong><em> I really hope you like it! the feedback I get from this chapter will help me to decide if I should keep writing it or not, this chapter, will very to the book <em>**

**_but I am going to have my own story line._**

**_Enjoy_**

**_XOX_**

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or story lines, they are the amazing work of Rachel Mead! 3<p>

I felt her fear before I heard her screams.

Her nightmares pulsed into me, shaking me out of my own dream, which had had something to do with a beach and some model. Images- hers, not mine- tumbled through my mind; fire and blood, the smell of smoke, the twisted metal of a car. The pictures wrapped around me, suffocating me, until some rational part of my brain reminded me that this wasn't my dream.

I woke up, strands of brown hair sticking to my forehead.

Lissa lay in her bed, thrashing and screaming. I bolted out of mine, quickly crossing the few feet that separated us.

"Liss," I said shaking her. "Liss, wake up."

Her screams dropped off, replaced by soft whimpers.

"Andre," she moaned. "Oh God."

I helped her sit up. "Liss, you aren't there anymore. Wake up."

After a few moments, her eyes fluttered open, and in the dim lightly, I could see a flicker of consciousness start to take over. Her breathing slowed, and she leaned into me, resting her head against my shoulder. I put my arm around her and ran a hand over her hair.

"It's okay," I told her gently, "Everything's okay."

"I had that dream."

"Yeah, I know." I sighed. We sat there for several minutes, not saying anything else. When I felt her emotions calm down, I leaned over to the nightstand between our beds and turned on the lamp. It glowed dimly, but neither of us really needed too much to see by.

"When did we do our last feeding?" I asked, studying her face. Her fair skin was paler than usual. Dark circles hung under her eyes, and there was an air of frailty about her. School had been chaotic this week, and I couldn't remember the last time I had given her blood. "It's been like… more than two days, hasn't it? Three? Why didn't you say anything Liss?"

She shrugged and wouldn't meet my eyes, "You were busy, I didn't want to-"

"Screw that," I exclaimed, shifting into a better position. No wonder she seemed so weak. "Come on let's do this." She let out a loud groan of protest.

"Come _on_, it'll make you feel better." I tilted my head and tucked my hair behind my ears, baring my neck. I saw her hesitate, but the sight of my neck and what it offered proved too powerful. A hungry expression crossed her face, her lips parted slightly, exposing the fangs she normally kept hidden while living among humans. Those fangs contrasted oddly with the rest of her features. With her pretty face and pale blonde hair, she looked more like an angel than a vampire.

As her teeth neared my bare skin, I felt my heart race with a mix of fear and anticipation. I always hated feeling the latter, but it was nothing I could help, a weakness I couldn't shake.

Her fangs bit into me, hard, I grunted at the brief flare of pain. Then it faded, replaced by a wonder, golden joy that spread though my body. It was better than any of the times I had been drunk or the one time I experimented with getting high. Better than sex-or so I imagined, since I'd never done it.

It was a blanket of pure, refined pleasure, wrapping me up and promising me everything would be alright in the world. On and on it went. The chemicals in her saliva triggered an endorphin rush and I lost track of the world, and who I was.

Then, regretfully, it was over. It had taken less than a minute. She pulled back, wiping her hand across her lips as she studied me. "You okay?"

"I . . . Yeah." I slowly got to my feet, staggering lightly, dizzy from the blood loss. I laid my hand on the wall covered in Lissa's posters. "I'm fine." I breathed.

Her pale, jade-green eyes watched me with concern. She stood up. "I'm going to go get you something to eat." My protests came awkwardly to my lips, and she left before I could get out a sentence. The buzz from her bite had lessened as soon as she broke the connection, but some of it still lingered in my veins, and I felt a goofy smile cross my lips.

My shirt had begun to stick to the slick skin of my back, I slowly forced myself to the window. I needed the cool night air. The world spun, and I waited for it to right itself before I reached it.

A warm breeze- unseasonably warm for a Portland fall- played with my hair as I leaned out. Soaking in the fresh air, The Street was dark and relatively quiet. It was three in the morning just about the only time a collage campus settled down, at least somewhat.

Across the road, a streetlight flickered, nearly ready to burn out. It still cast enough light for me to make out the shapes of cars and buildings. In our own yard, I could see the silhouettes of tree and bushes.

And someone watching me,

I jerked back in surprize. A figure stood by a tree in the yard, about thirty feet away, where they could easily see though the window. They were close enough that I probably could have thrown something and hit them. Whoever it was, was certainly close enough that they would have seen what Lissa and I had just done.

The shadows covered them so well that even with my heightened sight, I couldn't make out any features, save for their height. They stood there for just a moment, barely discernible, and then stepped back, disappearing into the shadows cast by the trees on the far side of the yard.

I was pretty sure I saw someone else move nearby and join whoever it was before the blackness swallowed them both. Something about them set the hairs on the back of my neck on point.

Icy fear raced through me, almost- but not quite- eradicating the lovely bliss of Lissa's bite. Backing up from the window, I jerked on a pair of jeans that I found on the floor, nearly falling over in the process. Once they were on, I grabbed my coat and Lissa's, along with our wallets. Shoving my feet into the first shoes I saw, I headed out the door.

Downstairs I found Lissa in the cramped kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator; Lissa regarded me with surprize as I bustled in.

"You shouldn't be up." She frowned disapprovingly at me.

"We have to go. Now." I said in a urgent tone.

Her eyes widened, and then a moment later, understanding clicked in. "Are you . . . Really? Are you sure?"

I nodded. I couldn't explain how I knew for sure. I just did. Lissa picked up our housemate Jeremy's car keys,- He had told us we could borrow his car in an emergency, and this certainly was- The car was parked four blocks away.

"Come on," I told her. "We've got to move." We stepped outside; heading towards the corner the car was parked on. I was still dizzy from the bite and kept stumbling awkwardly, unable to move as quickly as I wanted. Lissa had to catch me hold of me a few times to stop me from falling over.

All the time, that anxiety rushed into me from her head. I tried my best to ignore it: I had my own fears to deal with.

"What are we going to do if they catch us?" she whispered.

"They won't," I said fiercely. "I won't let them."

"But they've found us-"

"They found us before. They didn't catch us then, We'll just drive over to the train station and go to L.A. They'll lose the trail." I made it sound simple. I always did, even though there was nothing simple about being on the run from the people we'd grown up with. We'd been doing it for two years, hiding wherever we could and just trying to finish high school. We were so close to freedom.

She said nothing more, and I felt her faith in me surge up once more. This was the way it always had been between us, I was the one who took action, who made sure things happened- sometimes recklessly so. She was the more reasonable one, the one who thought things out and researched them before acting out. Both styles had there uses. But at the moment, recklessness was called for. We didn't have time to hesitate.

"Do you hear that?" she asked suddenly.

It took me a few seconds to pick up what her sharper senses already had. Footsteps, moving fast. I grimaced. We had two more blocks to go.

"We've got to run for it," I said, catching hold of her arm.

"But you can't-"

"_Run_." I whispered.

It took every ounce of my willpower not to pass out on the sidewalk. My body didn't want to run after losing blood or while still metabolizing the effects of Lissa's saliva. But I commanded my muscles to stop their bitching and clung to Lissa as out feet pounded against the concrete. Normally I could have out run her without any extra effort- particularly since she was barefoot- but tonight, she was all that held me upright.

The pursuing footsteps grew louder, closer. Black stars danced before my eyes. Ahead of us, I could just make out Jeremy's green Honda. Oh God, if we could just make it-

Ten feet from the car, someone stepped directly into our path. We came to a screeching holt, and I jerked Liss back by her arm. It was the person who had been watching us through the window.

The footsteps behind us slowed, and I knew our pursuers had caught up. Off to the side, I detected more movement, more people closing in. God. They'd sent almost a dozen guardians to retrieve us. I couldn't believe it. The queen herself didn't travel with this many.

Panicked and not entirely in control of my higher reasoning I acted out of instinct. I pressed Lissa, keeping her behind me and away from the guardians who had been watching us, they seemed to be the leader.

"Leave her alone," I growled. "Don't touch her."

The leaders face was unreadable, but they held out their hands in what was apparently supposed to be some sort of calming gesture like I was a rabid animal they were planning to sedate.

"I'm not going to-"

The leader took a small step forward. Too close.

I attacked, leaping out in an offensive manoeuvre I hadn't used in two years, not since Lissa and I had run away. The move was stupid, another reaction born of instinct and fear. And it was hopeless. The guardian was skilled, not a novice who hadn't finished their training. They also weren't on the verge of passing out.

The guardian, was fast. I'd forgotten how fast guardians could be, how they could move and strike like cobra's. The guardian knocked me off as though brushing away a fly, and their hands slammed into me and sent me backwards. I don't think they had intended to strike that hard, but my lack of coordination interfered with my ability to respond. Unable to catch my footing, I started to fall, heading straight towards the sidewalk at a twisted angel, hip-first. It was going to hurt. _A lot._

Only it didn't.

Just as quickly as they blocked me, they reached out and caught my arm, keeping me upright. When I'd steadied myself, I finally let myself actually look at the guardian in front of me.

They were older then us; maybe in their mid-twenties, with tan skin like most guardian's but this dhampir had skin the colour of an inside of an almond, and dark brown almost black hair that was tied in a high sleek pony tail. She had large deep brown eyes that were heavily lined with thick jet black lashes. She was tiny, about 5.5-5.6. Her face was set in a guardian mask but I could see the kindness in her eyes. And under different circumstances-say, when she wasn't holding up our desperate escape- I would have though she was hot.

But hotness was irrelevant now. She was the only obstacle keeping Lissa and me away from freedom.

I suddenly noticed she was staring at me too-or, more precisely, my neck. Still disoriented, I didn't get it right away. Then slowly, my free hand reached up to the side of my throat and lightly touched the wound Lissa had made. When I pulled my fingers back they were covered in slick dark blood.

Embarrassed, I shook my hair out so that it fell forward over my face. I had grown my hair longer than usual for this precise reason.

The girl's brown eyes lingered on the now-covered bite a moment longer and then met mine. I returned her look defiantly and quickly jerked out of the surprisingly tight hold- seeing as her hand were half the size of mine-. She let me go, though I knew she could have restrained me all night if she wanted to.

Fighting the nauseating dizziness, I backed toward Lissa again, bracing myself for another attack. Suddenly her hand caught hold of mine. "Dimitri," she said quietly. "Don't . . ."

Her words had no effect on me at first, but calming thoughts gradually began to settle in my mind, coming across though the bond. Even I knew struggling would be pointless now, we were hopelessly outnumbered and outclassed. The tension left my body and I sagged in defeat.

Sensing my resignation, the woman stepped forward, turning her attention to Lissa. Her face kind and calm. She swept her a bow and managed to look graceful doing it. "My name is Rosemarie Hathaway," She said, her voice soft and sweet like honey. "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess . . ."

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><p><strong>What do you think of this first chapter?<strong>

**i'd love any input!**

**do you like this idea? do you think I should keep going?**

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**XOX**

**A.**


	2. Headmistress Vulture : Chapter 2

My hatred not withstanding I had to admit Rosemarie Hatha-whatever was pretty smart. After they carted us off to the airport and onto the academy's private jet, she'd taken one look at the two of us whispering and ordered us separated.

"Don't let them talk to each other," she warned the guards, Ian who had escorted me to the back of the plane. "Five minutes together, and they'll come up with an escape plan." She grinned at me, showing a set of perfect pearl white teeth.

Momentarily stumped, I shook my head then gave her a haughty look and stormed off down the aisle. Never mind the fact that we _had_ been planning how to escape.

But we weren't going to be able to get off this plane now until it landed in backwoods Montana. I'd have to think of something then, something that involved getting past the Academy's magical wards and ten times as many guardians. Yeah. No problem.

Although Lissa sat in front with the tiny female guardian, her fear sang back to me, pounding into my head like a hammer. My concern for her cut into my furry. They couldn't take her back _there_, not to that place. I wondered if Guardian Hathaway might have hesitated if she could feel what I did and she knew what I know. Probably not. She didn't care.

As it was, her emotions grew so strong that for a moment, I had the disorienting sensation of sitting in her seat – in her _skin_ even. It happened sometimes, and without much warning, she'd pull me into her head. Guardian Hathaway's tiny frame sat beside me, and my hand – _her _hand – gripped a bottle of water. She leaned forward to pick something up, her pony tail flowing to one side, and revealing six tiny symbols tattooed on the back of her delicate neck_: molnija_ marks. One for each of the Strigoi she'd killed. Above them was a twisting line, sort of like a snake, that marked her as a guardian. The promise mark. .

Blinking, I fought against her and shifted back into my own head with a grimace. I hated when that happened.

Near the end of the flight, Guardian Hathaway walked back to where I sat and traded places with the guardian beside me. I pointedly turned away, staring out the window absentmindedly. She brought with her the smell of vanilla and strawberries.

Several moments of silence passed. Finally, she said, "Were you really going to attack all of us?"

I didn't answer.

She paused. "_Stupid_, but still brave. Why did you even try it?" she asked a very slight accent weaving in her words every now and again.

I glanced over at her looking levelly in the eyes. "Because I'm her guardian." I turned back to the window.

After another quiet moment, she stood up and returned to the front of the jet.

When we landed, Lissa and I had no choice but to let the commandos drive us out to the academy. It was sunset when we arrived – the start of the vampire day – and the campus lay wrapped in shadows.

It looked exactly the same, sprawling and gothic. The Moroi were big on tradition; nothing ever changed with them. The buildings boasted elaborate, almost churchlike architecture, with high peaks and stone carvings. I had forgotten just how beautiful this place actually was.

As we walked up to the main part of the upper school, I broke from my guardian and ran up to Guardian Hathaway.

"Hey, Thumbelina."

She kept walking and wouldn't look at me, the heels of her boots clicking on the marbled courtyard. "You want to talk now?"

"Are you taking us to Kirova?"

"_Headmistress_ Kirova," she corrected. On the other side of her, Lissa shot me that look that said, _don't start things. _

"Headmistress. Whatever. She's still a crazy old bit-" my words faded as the guardians led us through a set of doors – straight into the commons. I sighed. Were these people _really_ so cruel? There had to be at least a dozen ways to get to Kirova's office, and they were taking us straight through the centre of the commons.

And it was breakfast time.

Novice guardians –dhampirs like me – and Moroi sat together; eating and socializing, faces alight with whatever current gossip held the Academy's attention. When we entered, the loud buzz of conversations stopped instantly, like someone had flipped a switch. Hundreds of sets of eyes swivelled towards us.

I returned the stares of my former classmates with a lazy grin, trying to sense as to whether things had changed. No, it hadn't everything was just the same.

Our walk of shame mercifully ended, though our new setting – headmistress Kirova's office – didn't really improve things. The old hag looked exactly like I remembered her, sharp nosed and grey-haired. She was tall and slim, like most Moroi and had always reminded me of a vulture.

I hadn't had much experience with being punished by the headmistress, I was hardly one for getting in trouble, well unless it involved Lissa. But I was a great guardian in training when I was here.

Most of our escorts left us once Lissa and I were seated, and I felt a little less like a prisoner. Only Alberta, the captain of the school's guardians, and Guardian Hathaway stayed. They took up positions along the wall, looking stoic and ready for anything, just as their job description required.

Kirova fixed her angry eyes on us and opened her mouth to begin what would no doubt be a major bitch session. A deep gentle voice stopped her.

"Vasilisa."

Startled, I realized there was someone else in the room. I hadn't noticed. Careless for a guardian, even a novice one.

With a great deal of effort, Victor Dashkov rose from his chair. _Prince_ Victor Dashkov. Lissa sprang up and ran to him, throwing her arms around his frail body.

"Uncle," she whispered. She sounded on the verge of tears as she tightened her grip.

With a small smile, he gently patted her on the back. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you safe, Vasilisa." He looked toward me. "Oh, and you too Dimitri." He added as an afterthought.

I nodded back, trying to hide how shocked I was. He had been sick when we left, but this – this was _horrible_.

Although not technically her uncle- the Moroi used family terms very loosely, especially the royals- Victor was a close family friend and had gone out of his way to help her after her parents had died.

Kirova let them have a few more moments and then she drew Lissa back to her seat.

Time for the lecture.

It was a good one – One of Kirova's best, which was saying something, she was a master at them. The rant covered the usual topics; responsibility, reckless behaviour, self-centeredness . . . Bleh. I immediately found myself spacing out, alternatively pondering the logistics of escaping thought the window to her office.

But then the tirade shifted to me – well, that was when I tuned back in.

"You, Mr Belikov, broke the most sacred promise amongst our kind; the promise of a guardian to protect a Moroi. It is a great trust. A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the princess away from here. The Strigoi would love to finish off the Dragomirs_: You_ nearly enabled them to do so."

"Dimitri didn't kidnap me." Lissa spoke before I could, her voice and face calm, despite her uneasy feelings. "I wanted to go. Don't blame him."

Ms. Kirova _tsked_ at us both and paced the office, hands folded behind her narrow back.

"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one who orchestrated the whole plan for all I know, but it was still _his_ responsibility to make sure you didn't carry it out. If he'd done his duty, he would have kept you safe."

I snapped.

"I did do my duty!" I shouted, jumping from my chair. Rosemarie and Alberta flinched but left me alone since I wasn't trying to hit anyone. Yet. "I did keep her safe! I kept her safe when none of you"- I made a sweeping gesture around the room – "Could do it. I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren't going to."

Through the bond, I felt Lissa trying to send me calming messages, again urging me not to let anger get the best of me. Too late.

Kirova stared at me, her face blank. "Mr Belikov, forgive me if I fail to see the logic of how taking her out of a heavily guarded, magically secured environment Is protecting her. Unless there's something you aren't telling us?"

I bit my lip.

"I see, that makes my decision that much easier to make, as a Moroi, the princess must continue on here at the academy for her own safety, but we have no such obligations to you. You will be sent away as soon as possible. But it is a disappointment, if not for this huge lapse in judgement you would have made a fine guardian."

My cockiness dried up. "I . . . what?"

Lissa stood up beside me. "You can't do that! He's my guardian."

"He is no such thing, particularly since he isn't a guardian at all. He is a novice."

"But my parents-"

"I know what your parents wanted, God rest their souls, but things have changed. Mr Belikov is Expendable. He doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and he will leave."

I stared at Kirova, unable to believe what I was hearing. "Where are you going to send me? Back to Baia to become some kind of male blood whore? Or to my _father_?"

Her eyes narrowed at the bite in that last word. My voice was so cold, I barely recognized it.

" Try it and we'll be gone by the end of the day." I snapped.

"Mr Belikov," she hissed, " you are out of line."

"They have a bond." A sweet twinkling voice said from the back off the room breaking the heavy tension in the room, we all turned towards the voice – it was Guardian Hathaway- I think Kirova had forgotten she was there, but I hadn't. her presents was way too powerful to ignore.

She looked at me, not Lissa, her dark eyes staring straight through me. "Dimitri knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don't you?" she tilted her head to the side.

I at least had the satisfaction of seeing Kirova's caught off guard as she glanced between guardian Hathaway and me. "No . . . that can't be. That hasn't happened in centuries."

"It's obvious," she said. "I suspected it as soon as I started watching them." She chimed almost smugly.

Neither Liss nor I responded, and I adverted my eyes from hers.

"My, That Is a gift," murmured Victor from his corner. " A rare and wonderful thing."

"The best guardian's always had the bond," added Rosemarie. "In the stories."

Kirova's outrage returned. "Stories that are centuries old," she exclaimed. "Surely you aren't suggesting we let him stay at the academy after what he's done?"

She shrugged. "He might be a little pig-headed and cocky, but if he has potential-"

"Pig-headed and cocky?" I interrupted. "Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?"

"Guardian Hathaway is the princess's guardian now," said Kirova "Her _Sanctioned_ guardian."

"You got a tiny little elf to protect Lissa?"

That was pretty mean of me to say – particularly since she had possibly brought me some more time here.

Kirova threw her hands up in exasperation and turned to Guardian Hathaway. "You see? Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and very raw potential in the world can't make up for that. A guardian without discipline is worse than no guardian."

"So teach him discipline. Classes just started. Put him back and get him training again."

"Impossible, He'll still be hopelessly behind his peers."

"No I won't," I argued. No one listened to me.

"Then give him extra training sessions," she suggested.

They continued on while the rest of us watched the exchange like it was a Ping-pong game. My pride was still hurt over the ease with which Rosemarie had tricked us, but it occurred to me that she might very well keep me here with Lissa. Better to stay at this hellhole than be without her. Through the bond, I could feel her trickle of hope.

"Who's going to put in the extra time?" demanded Kirova. "You?"

Rosemarie's argument came to an abrupt stop. "Well, that's not what I-"

Kirova crossed her arms with satisfaction. "Yes, that's what I thought."

Clearly at a loss, She frowned. Her eyes flickered towards Lissa and me, and I wondered what she saw. Two pathetic teenagers, looking at her with big, pleading eyes? Or two runaways who'd broken out of a high-security school and swiped half of Lissa's inheritance.

"Yes," she finally breathed. "I can mentor Dimitri. I'll give him extra sessions along with his normal ones."

"And then what?" retorted Kirova angrily, "He goes unpunished?"

"Find some other way to punish him." She said a little exasperated. "But let him stay, guardian numbers are always dropping Kirova."

"I tend to agree with the girl. Sending Dimitri away would be a shame, a waste of talent." He was talking about me but his eyes were trained on the petite figure of Guardian Belikov.

Lissa leaned forward and met Kirova's eyes. "Please Ms Kirova. Let Dimitri stay."

_Oh, Lissa,_ I though. _Be careful_. Using compulsion on another Moroi was dangerous – particularly in front of witnesses. But Lissa was only using a tiny bit, and we needed all the help we could get, fortunately no one seemed to know what was happening.

Kirova sighed. "If Mr Belivok stays, here's how it will be." She turned to me. "Your continued enrolment at 's is strictly probationary. Step out of line _once_, and you're gone. You will attend all classes and required trainings for novices your age. You will also train with Guardian Hathaway in every spare moment you have- before and after classes. Other than that, you are limited to the social activities you will partake in. I recommend you just stay in your dorm room. Fail to comply with any of this, and you will be sent . . . Away."

I gave a harsh laugh. "That's all? You sure you don't want me to be doing any training in my sleep too?" I muttered.

Kirova gave me a sharp look, "You are being offered a very generous deal. I would suggest you don't let your attitude endanger it."

I started to say it wasn't generous at all, but then I caught Rosemarie's gaze. It was hard to read. But she might have been telling me she believed in me. She might have been telling me I was an idiot to keep fighting this. I didn't know.

Looking away from her for the second time during the meeting, I stared at the floor, conscious of Lissa beside me and her own encouragement burning through the bond. At long last, I exhaled and glanced back up at the headmistress.

"Fine. I accept."

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><p><strong><em>I'm sorry if this chapter was a little boring but the next one will be completely different from the book, so look forward to that.<em>**

**_ I have a couple of ideas that are strong on new takes of characters and plots!_**

**_We are going to be seeing Tasha very soon, anyone have any idea's on how I'm going to incorporate her into this?_**

**_(:_**

**_I hope you are enjoying this and I hope you will keep reading, following and reviewing!_**

**_I love you all_**

**_XXX_**

**_A._ **


	3. Schools in: Chapter 3

Sending us straight to class after our meeting seemed beyond cruel, but that is exactly what Kirova did. Lissa was led away, and I watched her go, glad the bond would allow me to keep an eye on her.

They actually sent me to one of the guidance counsellors first. He was an ancient Moroi guy, one I remembered from before we'd left. I honestly couldn't believe he was still around. The guy was so freaking old, he should have retired, or died.

The visit took all of 5 minutes. He said nothing about my return and asked me a few questions about the classes I took in Chicago and Portland. He compared those against my old file and hastily scrawled out a new class schedule. I took it sullenly and headed out to my first class.

_1__st__ Period Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques_

_2__nd__ Period Bodyguard Theory and Person Protection 3_

_3__rd__ Period Weight Training and Conditioning_

_4__th__ Period Senior Language Arts (Novices) _

_-Lunch- _

_5__th__ Period Precalculus _

_6__th__ Period Animal Behaviour and Physiology _

_7__th__ Period Moroi Culture 4_

_8__th__ Period Slavic Arts_

Guardian Hathaway and Alberta escorted me to the guardian's gym for first period, neither of them acknowledging my existence walking behind them; I saw how Alberta wore her hair in a short pixie cut that showed her promise mark and 2 _monija _marks. A lot of female guardians did this, but Guardian Hathaway didn't. Her rich brown hair was bound up in a high pony tail that swung hypnotically as she strode in front of me. I couldn't help but admire the fact that she had kept her hair long, it really was beautiful hair. I couldn't help but feel a strange pang when I thought about her cutting it off like Alberta.

Alberta and Guardian Hathaway were whispering animatedly as we walked along, I wasn't able to catch anything but Alberta saying; '_Hathaway, you're trouble. You know that_.' With a comfortable smile, Guardian Hathaway just laughed it off. The sound was soft and musical like wind chimes, I couldn't help the shiver that shot through my spine. But it was funny, the way Alberta and Guardian Hathaway conversed was more like friends then colleges.

When we arrived, the reaction of my peers indicated they had been talking about me, They were in the middle of setting up when we had entered, and just like in the commons, all eyes fell on me. I couldn't decide if I felt like a rock star or a circus freak.

I heard Guardian Hathaway's choked off laughter beside me, I turned to her frowning. She had a blank face, like nothing had happened.

"Enjoy your first class ." she said smoothly before gliding off into the balcony where the guardian's watched us training. I blinked after her before scanning the staring, open-mouthed novices; I looked for a familiar face. One caught my eye, I could barely hold back my grin.

"Ivan, Hey man. How's it going?" Ivan Zeklos, one of my best friends had parted the crowd of gawking novices, to pull me in for a hug. He patted my back roughly and I returned it.

"If it isn't the legendary Dimitri Belikov, did you finally realise we are much cooler than your Moroi princess?" he grinned. A few snorts and snickers broke the awkward silence around us. Ivan was one of my oldest friends. He came here to Montana with me, from Russian when we were in elementary school. Things with Ivan were always so easy and relaxed. He was one of the most chilled guys I had ever met.

I laughed and punched Ivan's arm in a playful gesture, then suddenly the class engulfed me, I found myself laughing and seeing those I'd nearly forgotten about. Everyone wanted to know where we'd been; apparently Lissa and I had become legends. I couldn't tell them why we'd left, of course. So I offered up a lot of taunts and wouldn't-you-like-to-knows that served just as well.

The happy reunion lasted a few more minutes before the adult guardian who oversaw training came over and scolded us for not being ready. Ivan took my arm and winked at me.

"Come on, Belikov," he said "You can be my partner. Let's see what you've been doing all this time."

An hour later he had his answer.

"Not practicing, huh?" he asked grinning like an idiot.

"Crap," I groaned flexing the arm I had just landed on when Ivan knocked me to the mat, for the umpteenth time.

Ivan helped me to my feet and chuckled. "You didn't do too bad man."

"What? I just had my ass handed to me." I groaned. I hated this. I had always been the best in class before I had left. But I guess during our time away I had begun to just reply on my overwhelming size to threaten anyone off. I hadn't really needed to practice my combat skills.

"Well of course you did Dimitri, it's been two years. But hey, you're still alive, and walking. That's something." He laughed. I swung my leg out low attempting a kick to his ankles to bring him down, but somehow he turned in on me and I ended up face down on the sweaty mat.

"Did I mention I fucking hate you man." I joked, peeling myself -with Ivan's help- off the ground. We started walking towards our next class

Ivan smiled at me again, but it suddenly turned more serious. "Don't take this the wrong way man . . . I mean, you really are a freak, but there's no way you'll be ready to take your trials in the spring-"

"There making me take extra practice sessions," I explained. Not that it mattered; I planned on getting us out of here before these practices really became an issue. "I'll be ready."

"Extra training session with who?"

"That tiny Guardian. Hathaway."

Ivan stopped walking and stared at me. "You're putting in extra time with Hathaway?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"So the woman is a freaking _goddess_."

"Seriously?" I arched my brow at him.

Ivan nodded his head frantically. "I'm serious. I mean, she totally unbelievably hot, but when she fights . . . wow. If you think you're hurting now, you're going to be dead when she's done with you."

"Great," I laughed rolling my eyes.

"No seriously Dimitri, you're a lucky son of a bitch, all of the novices have been trying to get her to do One-on-one training but she always says no, I mean I think she realises most of them just want a reason for her to touch them or vice versa, but she is awesome dude. I'm kinda jealous." He laughed.

Ivan left me to go get a book he had forgotten, so I made my way to my next class by myself, I couldn't help but think of how Guardian Hathaway had stood up for Lissa and I in Kirova's office. I guess I owed her, now I knew why Kirova had been so quick to nominate Her to train me, Kirova was sure she would say no. 

My day went on agonizingly slowly; in my Moroi culture class I had a new teacher I had never met before. He was a Moroi, young and tall, almost my height, he had the usual pale Moroi skin, but vibrant emerald green eyes that stood out against his defined cheek bones, he was wearing expensive looking clothes and had brown hair that had been artfully tousled. He also was a total damn douce-bag. He called on me almost every question, even when half the class had their hands up. He kept saying that I would know these things if I hadn't left.

Luckily I had Lissa in the class, she reached over and squeezed my hand gently giving me a smile, her sympathy and guilt washing over me in waves through the bond.

'You're not as smart as you think you are Mr Belikov, you are not ready to protect Vasilisa, you're only a silly child." he called out as I was getting out of my chair when the bell rang. I was one of the last people in the room but there was a handful of novices still jotting down notes, they had to hold in their laughter, Lissa shot them all glares.

I shot him my own murderous glare when he had looked down at the papers on his table, suddenly a figure in the back of the room caught my eye. Guardian Hathaway was guarding this class, her large brown eyes gazing curiously at me. I froze, I hadn't realised she was there. Suddenly I was so embarrassed that she had seen me fail at answering so many easy questions. I rushed out of the room before he could say anything else with her there, pulling Lissa along with me.

At the end of the day I headed to the gym for my personal training. As I stumbled across campus towards the gym, Guardian Hathaway fell into step beside me, not looking particularly goddess like in a pair of black trousers and a plain black T-shirt – unless you counted her godly good looks.

"I suppose you saw what happened in Mr Ivashkov's class?" I asked her.

"Yes."

'And you don't think that he was a bit unfair?"

She flicked her low pony tail over her shoulder. "Was he right? Do you think you are fully prepared to protect Vasilisa?" she asked serenely.

I kicked at the cobble stones. "I kept her alive," I muttered.

"How did you go fighting against your class mates today?"

The question was mean. I didn't answer and knew I didn't need to. I'd had another training class today, and no doubt Hathaway had watched me get beat up there too.

"If you can't fight _them-_"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I snapped butting in.

She slowed her surprisingly long stride to match my slow pain-filled one. "You are strong and fast by nature. You just need to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play sports while you were gone?"

"Sure," I shrugged. "Now and then."

She gave me an exasperated look before opening the door to the gym and letting me through before following me.

"You will never be able to really protect the princess if you don't hone your skills. You'll always be lacking."

"I'll be able to protect her." I said fiercely.

She gave me a small unexpected grin before telling me to get changed, and disappearing through the ladies change room door. I stood there a second longer blinking, before heading to the males change rooms.

When I was dressed in my work out clothes I sat down in the middle of the room on a matt stretching out my aching calves, when Guardian Hathaway came out of the change rooms. Her hair was now in a simple braid down her back, she was wearing a dark deep blood red tank top and tight black bike shorts and a pair of black Nike runners. My eyes went wide, my mouth dry. The burgundy colour of her tank top emphasised her beautiful tanned skin, making her dark brown hair look almost black, it also perfectly hugged her body, giving her the perfect hourglass figure that most women wanted and men went crazy over. I found myself wondering if it was possible that she could look better in lingerie or wearing nothing. I gasped at myself, shaking my head. Guardian Hathaway was a respected dhampir, I wasn't like all the other novices. I wasn't going to slobber all over her.

She made her way over to me positioning herself on her mark, I followed suit. Readying myself on mine. Guardian Hathaway gave me a small grin.

"Let's see what you can do Belikov." She said before locking herself in position in a fighting stance. I bunkered down, my arms held bent out in front of me, like her.

Suddenly her hand flew forward between my defences and right into the soft hollow under my rib, I winced staggering lightly,but before I could respond her leg connected with the side of my ribs knocking me sideways and out of the circle- _One point to her._- I tried to pull myself up but Guardian Hathaway's foot came down on my chest pushing me back down. When I looked up at her she looked slightly irritated.

"Are you even trying?" she asked, she had knocked the wind out of me, and I was already aching from being beaten up all day.

"I am, let me up you just caught me off guard." I argued slightly breathlessly.

Guardian Hathaway lifted her foot, stepping back on her mark, waiting. I got back on my mark as well, watching her intently for her next move. She didn't make the first move so I swung out with my arm attempting to connect with her shoulder but her hand shot out and gripped my wrist, she twisted it around till it was at an unnatural angle. I yelped out before she tugged me closer then swiped her leg out catching my ankles and sending me face down to the matt. -_two points to Hathaway-_.

I lay there a moment mumbling all the swear words I knew In Russian into the soft blue plastic. I could hear Guardian Hathaway's sigh behind me. I eased myself back up breathing hard, I couldn't let her take me down again. I had to show her I was worth fighting for.

I made the first move again, swiping out my left fist as a decoy, she went to defend it and I swung out a wide right hook connecting hard with the side of her ribs, I had my leg poised to take out her feet but my knuckles grazed her breast and I froze. She swung herself around taking advantage of my frozen state, jumping and spring kicking me straight in my stomach; I was knocked off my feet, my back hitting the ground hard._ -We have a winner-_

"Tomorrow, you can run laps Belikov . . ." Guardian Hathaway sighed, throwing me a towel before sashaying away.

The last thing I saw before collapsing back on the ground was a cloud of Guardian Hathaway's now unbound shimmering brown hair before she disappeared out the gym doors leaving me bruised, broken, and for some reason strangely happy?. . .

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><p><strong>Tasha is coming soon . . . Dun Dun Dun!<strong>  
><strong> I hope you are enjoying this, I haven't been to sure if I am going to continue this, only one person reviewed my last chapter, and now many people have viewed.<strong>

**So please let me know if you are enjoying this, and if you aren't let me know why.**

**thank you! and I love you all!**

**XXX**

**A.**


	4. Snow falls: Chapter 4

The next morning Guardian Hathaway was true to her word, when I came in bright and early she was already there, in her guardian uniform. Sitting cross legged in the middle of the gym a magazine perched on her lap.

"15 laps Belikov." Is all she said before slipping in her headphones and waving me out.

When I made it to lunch I collapsed on the bench beside Lissa. She gave me a soft pat on the shoulder and a weak smile.

"How's everything going with the guardian training?" she asked timidly.

I gave Lissa the look that said 'Don't ask' and she smiled encouragingly at me.

"It will get better Dimitri, you're a great fighter, you will be the best guardian ever." She boasted, I could feel through the bond that she really meant it, it did help to lift my moral.

Well that was until Jessie Zeklos -a dhampirs who had repeated his senior year twice-, sat beside Lissa swinging his arm around her shoulder.

"Sup, princess," he said to Lissa giving her a ogling look. "Sup, Russian dhampirs." he added to me not at all friendly.

"Jessie," Lissa blushed looking up at him through her pale lashes.

Jessie Zeklos was no ordinary dhampirs, because his Moroi father was one of the top Royal Moroi's and his mother was one of the best dhampirs guardians. That was how he was allowed to repeat his guardian training, usually once you fail you fail, but because of Mr Zeklos's generous donations to the Academy Jessie was allowed to try again and again.

Not only was he from a prestigious family, but he was devastatingly good looking, even Lissa couldn't resist his charms.

"I've missed you around these hallow halls Miss Dragomir." He stage whispered to Lissa. She gave him a loopy dazed girl smile but didn't respond.

"Is that why you keep repeating Jessie? You were waiting to see Lissa again?" I mocked, I hated how all the girls threw themselves over Jessie, he was such a big headed, dick.

Jessie just gave me a confused look and Lissa shot me a glare, annoyance radiating through the bond. But before either of them could respond Mia; Lissa's Ex-boyfriend Aaron's, new pocket sized girlfriend was standing in front of us. She had her arms crossed tightly against her chest, a look on her face like she had smelled something bad.

"Ew! Jessie, didn't your mother ever teach you not to play with stray dogs." She sneered, her eyes shooting daggers towards Lissa.

I glared back at Mia, she may have looked like an innocent little doll but she wasn't innocent in the slightest. Jessie rolled his eyes.

"Now now, Mia. Lissa is royalty after all." He said sweetly, running his fingers through Lissa's silky pale blonde hair. "We mustn't be so unkind to her."

Mia arched her brow and scoffed. "Just because she is royalty doesn't mean she isn't trash." She snapped back.

"Why don't you just shut the hell up and fuck off cabbage patch kid." I growled. Lissa blanched beside me, she had much too gentle a soul to handle things like this, but that is why she had me.

Mia's nostrils flared as she turned her eye to me. "Oh if it isn't the Princess's Russian slave." She said slowly like she was talking to a child. "I'm sorry if I interrupted you begging for scraps from your precious Dragomir." She scowled.

I turned my head up trying to ignore her, Lissa was staring down at her long fingers intently. Jessie took his arm from around Lissa and stood up.

"Come on now Mia, that's enough let's leave these two alone before Belikov puts your head though the plasterboard." He took Mia's arm and dragged her off, not before giving Lissa a wink that turned her cheeks bright red.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked turning towards Lissa. She blinked up at me confused.

"What was what about?"

"Well, for starters the whole mooning after Jessie freaking Zeklos and second of all, what is with the crib midget Aaron's dating hating on you? Do we know her?"

"Jessie's . . . Nice Dimitri." She answered, a little smile flicking up the corners of her mouth, "and he's older, so he's all like mysterious," she laughed. I just rolled my eyes and her.

"and that Mia chick, what's going on there?"

Lissa let out a sigh, "I have no idea, yesterday Aaron came up to me to see how I was and she made the water in my drink bottle explode and soak through my white shirt." She said quietly.

"So she's a water user? Lame. That's the least coolest."

"Well, at least she's declared Dimitri, unlike the freak you're sitting with." She said wringing her hands together.

"Lissa, you know what everyone says, you're just a late bloomer, it will happen. We will just keep practising. Okay? Don't stress yourself out!" I said rubbing her shoulder gently.

"I know you're right Dimitri, but I just worry that I will just be some freak who never declares a magic." She said just as the bell rang for class. Lissa and I stood up and headed to our next class together.

We were just about to class when a female Moroi stepped out in front of me, before I could react she threw her long thin arms around me, squeezing tightly.

"Dimitri Belikov," she purred her arms tightly wound around my chest.

"Tasha Ozera," I chuckled and patted her back softly. She lifted her head back to look up at me with her big ocean blue 'Ozera eyes'.

"I've missed you Dimka. You never said goodbye to me before you left." She pouted, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

Lissa cleared her throat beside me, Tasha blinked up at me then turned to Lissa with a thinly veiled look of repulsion.

"Oh _Princess_ Vasilisa, I didn't see you there." She crooned in a fake friendly tone. Lissa and Tasha had never really gotten along well together, but Tasha was the only Moroi other than Lissa I was really friends with.

"Tasha," she nodded politely before turning to me "I'm going to go to class, I'll save you a seat."

Before Lissa had even left Tasha was pulling my shoulders to get my full attention, "Dimka, you can't leave again okay, I missed you. Everyone else here is soo boring." She whined, I put my hands on her shoulder and gave her a tight smile.

"I can't promise anything, if Lissa needs to leave, I have to go with her."

"No you don't, you're not her guardian Dimka." She frowned. "You know, if she is too much of a hand full you could always be my guardian when we graduate." She said her eyes shining hopefully.

I bit my lower lip. "Tash, you know that I promised the Dragomir's that I would look after their daughter, and Lissa is my best friend. I enjoy guarding her." I said in a soft voice hoping not to upset her.

"Fine!" she sighed. "Well to make up for you leaving me for so long, lets hang out tonight after class."

"I can't Tash, I have training with Guardian Hathaway, and I'm kinda grounded." I shrugged; Tasha screwed up her face and sighed.

"I'll get my uncle to talk to Kirova, see if we can get you off and cancel your training with that awful Hathaway." She said smiling wide.

"Ah Tasha that's oka-" she cut me off putting her hand over my mouth.

"It's no worries Dimka, Uncle Victor loves you and Lissa, so he will help out." She laughed before planting a kiss on my cheek and skipping off.

I stood there staring after her, I didn't enjoy being confined to my room, but I knew the training sessions with Guardian Hathaway were going to help me become a better guardian, and I owed her, I couldn't let Kirova cancel our mentorship.

I walked into class in a kind of daze, Lissa looked up at me when I came in and laughed quietly.

"What's so funny?" I asked sitting beside her in the chair she'd saved.

"Oh nothing, just the fact that Tasha Ozera is like totally in love with you." She giggled. I gave her a glare she just laughed harder.

"She's getting Victor Dashkov to talk to Kirova about un-grounding me, and cancelling my training with Guardian Hathaway."

Lissa frowned, "Why would you want to cancel your training, Guardian Hathaway seems like the perfect mentor for you!" she exclaimed.

I nodded. "I know, I don't want her to cancel them either, I'll have to talk to her."

"Be gentle with her '_Dimka_'" she mocked. I threw my pencil at her, it hit her right in the middle of her forehead. It sent us both into fits of laughter that had the 100 year old Moroi teacher scolding us.

After my last class was over I headed straight to the gym for my training session, Guardian Hathaway was already there, her beautiful brown hair bound up in a plat, I changed into my sports gear before standing in front of her.

"Laps." She called not even looking up from the book she was reading. I stepped closer trying to see what it was, it was a book on animal behaviours, when she noticed me still standing there she dropped the book to the floor, spine up.

"Belikov, what are you still doing here? Did you not understand what I said? Want me to say it slower this time?" she picked the book back up, smoothing the pages. "L-a-p-s n-o-w B-e-l-i-k-o-v." she said slowly, sounding out every letter like you would to a child.

I rolled my eyes at her before running out to do my laps.

This routine went on for the next week, I was getting stronger, the 20 laps seemed like nothing anymore, so Hathaway added another 5, the other novices had welcomed me with open arms, and I was catching up with all my school work. It was easy seeing as it was the only thing I was allowed to do in my meagre spare time.

But for Lissa, things are bad. She still hadn't declared a magic, -normally by Lissa's age Moroi have specialised and are given specific tasks and assignments according to their magic-, but Lissa who still hadn't declared feels left out in class and is often picked on and taunted by Mia, Aaron's girlfriend.

Lissa's old group of friends won't speak to her anymore because they have chosen Mia over her, so when I'm not there, Lissa will sit alone and wallow, the dark cloud that was over Lissa before we ran away is starting to return and I fear for her, I don't really want to, but if I have to I will run away with Lissa again. But every time I ask her how she is she replies with.

"_I'm fine Dimitri, just give it time. Everything will get better." _

On Sunday morning - our day off- Lissa and I head over to the church, we sit near the back, Lissa absorbed in Father Andrew's sermon while I quietly look around the room. I am not a passionately religious person like Lissa, but being in church always brings me a sense of peace I haven't found anywhere else.

I'm about half way scanning the room when something catches my eye. A couple of pews behind us in the very last row is Guardian Hathaway. She has head bowed slightly but her eyes are open, sweeping the room like mine just were.

Suddenly our eyes meet; she lifts her head and smiles at me very faintly before motioning for me to pay attention to Father Andrew. When I turn back to the priest standing on the alter, I can't help but smile to myself. My chest feels light, Guardian Hathaway rarely smiles around students, but _damn_ I wish she did more often. I sit the rest of the service trying and failing to keep my eyes off Guardian Hathaway. But luckily when I look back at her, she has her eyes closed and seems lost in thought, and I am able to take in her features more closely.

Her beautiful brown hair wrapped around itself to form a large bun on the top of her head, her full pink lips, her long thick dark lashes that fan out delicately over her cheeks, her small smooth nose-

"What are you staring at creep." Lissa whispers in my ear. I jump lightly and turn back to her quickly.

"What?" I breath.

"What were you staring at so intently, I swear you stopped breathing." She laughed, turning herself around to look behind us. I turn quickly to see Guardian Hathaway is alert again, scanning the room like a hawk. I grip Lissa's arm and pull her back around.

"Nothing, nothing. Just some freshman asleep back there, he was drooling and everything. But he is awake now." I lie.

Lissa just stares at me, her brow arched slightly. "Okay, crazy." She laughs, I know she can tell I'm lying but she leaves it alone. "Well service is over we can leave now, want to come back to the Moroi commons and watch a movie or something?"

I nod and get up from my seat, "Sure, good weather for it." We both look up and out the stain glass window, the snow that has been falling for the last few days have doubled since service started and is pilling on every surface.

Lissa pulls her dark blue coat closer to her neck and smiles up at me as we walk towards the entry.

"What did you think of Father Andrew's sermon?" she asks

I bite my lip and smile guiltily at her, "I wasn't listening Liss, I'm sorry." I confess.

Lissa laughs. "its fine Dimitri, I knew you weren't listening, you-" Lissa doesn't get to finish because all of the snow that has accumulated on the door way falls on top of Lissa, drenching her in freezing cold water and snow.

She squeals out, the water plastering her silky silvery hair to her head, she looks up at the door way a look of complete shock on her face. Somehow the snow managed to fall almost completely on Lissa, only a tiny amount had landed on me. Something was fishy. I looked around quickly to find Mia and a couple of her friends standing together laughing.

I march up to them, looming over the tiny Mia, she looks up at me a look of complete satisfaction on her face. "Isn't mother nature just a bitch." She trills in her ringing voice.

I roll my eyes and make a grunting noise in the back of my throat. "Yeah if mother nature was a dwarf, who happens to be a water using Moroi?" I ask glaring at her still giggling friends. Lissa stands beside me her clothes drenched and clinging to her skin.

I take off my jacket and hand it to her. She takes it with shaking hands gratefully pulling in around her and huddling herself into the oversized coat.

"I don't know what you're insinuating Dimitri, it was just a force of nature." Mia says in a voice of mock hurt. "Clearly even the universe thinks Vasilisa Dragmoir is nothing but human garbage." She calls out in her child like voice.

I step closer into Mia's face but Lissa's thin fingers wrap around my bicep and pull me back. "Dimitri," she whispers "She's not worth it." I look down at Lissa, she looks cold and utterly defeated.

I step back a bit, but I still loom over Mia. "Listen Gollum, how about you leave Lissa the hell alone or I will shave your hair off in your sleep." I growl. Mia's eyes brows shoot up in response.

"You wouldn't dare, you would be out of here within seconds." She hisses.

"Oh, it would be well worth it, I'm sure you will look great bald, like one of those wrinkly hairless cats." I reply seriously.

"Those cats that look kind of like armpits." laughs one of the Moroi girls in Mia's entourage. Mia turns on her a scowl on her face.

"Tamara, shut up, Dimitri and the princess need to go and run away again." She hisses again.

I just shake my head at her. "Mia, you have no idea how much of a fu-"

"Dimitri Belikov," a silky voice interrupts. "Aren't you supposed to be in your dorm." Guardian Hathaway has already assessed the situation. She steps closer, her soft emerald green coat brushing against my now bare arm. Mia gives a stifled laugh, Guardian Hathaway looks Mia up and down. "Who are you?" she asks bluntly.

"I'm Mia Rinaldi." Mia says proudly.

Guardian Hathaway looks her up and down again, a small frown creasing her smooth brow. "Never heard of you." she replies bluntly, Mia risibly deflates.

Guardian Hathaway looks between the shivering Lissa and the cocky Mia and her giggling crew and places her hands on her hips. "I think you and your little sheep should get out of here before I give you all a weeks' worth of detentions cleaning the male novice's locker rooms." Mia looks shocked but her and the other girls turn on their heels and strut away.

I go to say thank you to Guardian Hathaway but she's already turned on Lissa, her small delicate hands placed on Lissa's shoulders comfortingly.

"Don't worry about them." She smiles very softly at Lissa. "Girls like her are only mean to people they are jealous of. She can never be as popular or well-known as you and that drives her crazy." She dabs away one of Lissa's escaped tears. "Shes probably also jealous because you are tall and beautiful and she looks like she's just crawled out of a cabbage patch." Suddenly Lissa and Guardian Hathaway are laughing, I can't help but join in.

Guardian Hathaway straightens up and turns to me, "Are you right to take it from here?" she asks me, taking off her scarf and wrapping it gently around Lissa's neck. I nod and smile at her.

"Thank you Guardian Hathaway." I say seriously. Hathway's nose creases gently almost in confusion, then she walks away swiftly.

I put my arm around Lissa and start walking her back to her dorm. "I like her," she whispers gently. I look down at her and laugh softly.

"Guardian Hathaway?" I ask curiously.

"Yes, I think you and her and going to make a great team, and it will be great to have another girl around." She smiles. "I can see us becoming friends." I laugh and leave Lissa at the door to her dorm but before I can walk away she calls out

"What are we going to do about Mia?" she asks timidly.

I give her a smile and call out "Don't worry, I will take care of it." I leave now, I need to go home and get some more clothes on, it is freezing outside, and Lissa clearly doesn't feel like watching movies anymore.

The whole way back to my dorm all I can think about it how amazing Guardian Hathaway was with Lissa and how grateful I would be to have another female around -who could help Lissa better with her girl drama that I know nothing about- and about how beautiful Guardian Hathaway looks in green.

* * *

><p>Later that night I'm sitting in my room finishing off an assignment when I'm suddenly sucked into Lissa's head like I was back on the plane. She walks back to the Orthodox chapel, she goes inside, I could feel that she wasn't there to pray. She has another purpose, one I didn't know about.<p>

Glancing around she verifies that she is alone, slipping through a doorway to the back of the chapel, she climbs up a set of narrow creaky stairs up into the attic. Here it is dark and dusty. The only light comes through a large stained-glass window that fractured the faint glow of sunrise into tiny, multi-coloured gems across the floor.

I hadn't known until this moment that this room was a regular retreat for Lissa. But now I could feel it, her memories of how she used to escape up here to be alone and to think. The anxiety in her ebbed away ever so slightly as she took in the familiar surroundings. She climbed up into the window seat and leaned her head against its side, momentarily entranced by the silence and the light.

Sitting here she could almost pretend she was in the sun, protected by the glass's dilution of the rays.

_Breath, just breath,_ she told herself. _It'll be okay, Dimitri will take care of everything._

She believes that passionately, like always, and relaxed further.

Then a low voice speaks from the darkness.

"You can have the academy, but not that window seat."

She springs up heart pounding. I shared her anxiety and my own pulse quickened. "Whose there?"

A moment later, a shape rose from behind a stack of crates, just outside her field of vision. The figure stepped forward, and In the poor lighting, familiar features materialized. Messy black hair. Pale blue eyes. A perpetually sardonic smirk.

Christian Ozera, -Tasha Ozera's nephew-.

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><p><strong>What do you think so far? what do you think is going to happen? <strong>

**do you have any suggestions or comments I would love to know!**

**please review so that I know to keep writing!**

**love you all thanks for your continuous support. **

**xx**

**A.**


	5. What does the fox say? : Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: These characters and some of the story lines are the work of Richelle Mead, though I do wish Dimitri was mine ;)**

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><p>Christian's parents –Tasha's older sister and brother-in-law- turned themselves Strigoi, then came back for Christian, he was only little, but he saw it all. Before he could be taken by his now Strigoi parents a regiment of guardians hunted them down and killed them. Rumour has it they made him and Tasha watch to show that this was their fate if they followed in Christian's parents footsteps.<p>

And although he wasn't Strigoi himself, some people though he wasn't far off, with the way he always wore black and kept to himself.

Strigoi or not, I didn't trust him. He was a jerk, and I silently screamed at Lisa to get out of there-not that my screaming did much good. Stupid one-way bond.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Taking in the sights, of course. That chair with the tarp on its particularly lovely this time of year. Over there, we have an old box full of the writings of the blessed and crazy St. Vladmir. And let's not forget that beautiful table with no legs in the corner."

"Whatever." she rolled her eyes and moved toward the door, wanting to leave, but he blocked the way.

"Well, what about _you_?" he taunted. "Why are you up here? Don't you have parties to go to or lives to destroy?"

Some of Lissa's old spark returned. "Wow, that's hilarious. Am I like some rite of passage now? Go and see if you can piss off Lissa to prove how cool you are? Some girl I don't even know keeps yelling at me, and now I've got to deal with you? What does it take to be left alone?"

"Oh. So that's why you're up here. For a pity party."

"This isn't a joke. I'm serious." I could tell Lissa was getting angry. It was trumping her earlier distress.

He shrugged and leaned casually against the slopping wall. "So am i. I love pity parties. I wish I'd brought the hats. What do you want to mope about first? How it's going to take you a whole day to be popular and loved again? How you'll have to wait a couple weeks before Zara can ship out some new clothes? If you spring for rush shipping, it might not be so long."

"Let me leave," she said angrily, this time pushing him aside.

"Wait," he said, as she reached the door. The sarcasm disappeared from his voice. "What . . . Um, what was it like?"

"What was _what _like?" she snapped.

"Being out there. Away from the Academy."

She hesitated for a moment before answering, caught off guard by what seemed like a genuine attempt at conversation.

"It was great. No one knew who I was. I was just another face not Moroi. Not royal. Not anything." She looked down at the floor. "Everyone here thinks they know who I am."

"Yeah. Its kind of hard to outlive your past," he said bitterly.

It occurred to Lissa at that moment – and me too by default- just how hard it might be to be Christian. Most of the time, people treated him like he didn't exist. Like he was a ghost. They didn't talk to or about him. They just didn't notice him. The stigma of his parent's crime was too strong, casting its shadow onto the entire Ozera family.

Still, he'd pissed her off, and she wasn't about to feel sorry for him.

"Wait- is this your pity party now?"

He laughed, almost approvingly, "This room has been my pity party for a year now."

"Sorry," said Lisa snarkily. "I was coming here before I left. I've got a longer claim."

"Squatters' rights. Besides, I have to make sure I stay near the chapel as much as possible so people know I haven't gone Strigoi . . . yet." Again, the bitter tone rang out.

"I used to always see you at mass. Is that the only reason you go? To look good?" Strigoi can't enter holy ground.

"Sure," he said. "Why else go? For the good of your _soul_?"

"Whatever," said Lissa, who clearly had a different opinion "I'll leave you alone then."

"Wait," he said again. He didn't seem to want her to go. "I'll make you a deal. You can hang out here too if you tell me one thing."

"What?" she glanced back at him.

He leaned forward. "Of all the rumours I heard about you today- and believe me, I heard plenty, even if no one actually told them to me- there was one thing that didn't come up very often . You and Dimitri."

"What about Dimitri and I?" she questioned.

"Well I lived with humans. My Aunt and Uncle I stayed with them after my parents . . . died. It's not that easy to find blood, like you and Dimitri have been telling everyone." When she didn't answer , he laughed "It was Dimitri, wasn't it? He fed you?"

A renewed fear shut though both her and me. No one at school could know about that. Kirova and the guardians on the scene knew, but they'd kept that knowledge to themselves.

"Well. If that's not _friendship_, I don't know what it is," he said.

"You can't tell anyone," she blurted out.

This was all we needed, for everyone in school to find out I'd basically been Lissa's bloodwhore, no one was going to take me seriously as a guardian if they found out. – letting a Moroi take blood from you was almost well, dirty. In fact, one of the kinkiest, practically pornographic things a dhampir could do was let a Moroi drink blood during sex.

Lissa and I hadn't had sex, of course, but we'd both knew what others would think of me feeding her.

"Don't tell anyone," Lissa repeated.

He stuffed this hands in his coat pockets and sat down on one of the crates. "Who am I going to tell? Look, go grab the window seat. You can have it today and hang out for a while. If you're not still afraid of me."

She hesitated, studying him. He looked dark and surly, lips curled in a sort of I'm-such-a-rebel smirk. But he didn't look too dangerous. He didn't look Strigoi. Gingerly, she sat back down in the window seat, unconsciously rubbing her arms against the cold.

Christian watched her, and a moment later, the air warmed up considerably.

Lissa met Christian's eyes and smiled, surprized she's never noticed how icy blue they were before. "You specialized in fire?"

He nodded and pulled up a broken chair. "Now we have luxury accommodations."

I snapped out of the vision.

"Dimitri? Dimitri?" a soft voice crooned.

Blinking, I focused on Guardian Hathaway's face. She was leaning towards me, her hands gripping my shoulders. I was sitting on the edge of my bed, she must have come into my room.

"Are you all right?"

"I . . . Yeah. I was . . . I was with Lissa. . . .i was in her head." I put my hand to my forehead. "But how did you get here?"

"I was knocking on your door to talk to you, I could hear you kind of muttering, but you weren't answering the door, so I came in to make sure you were okay. " She replied, almost . . ._Sheepishly?_ "But you were in Her . . . Head?"

"Yeah, it's part of the bond." I didn't really feel like elaborating.

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's . . ." I hesitated. _Was _she all right? "She's not in danger." I finally said. I hoped.

"Are you alright to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answer shuffling along the bed so she ccould sit too. Guardian Hathaway gives me a little smile, but stays standing. She would probably be quite comfortable standing for days, Like most guardian's.

She smooths her hands down her already immaculate black trousers. "Headmistress Kirova informed me before I got here, that you don't want to train with me anymore." Her eyes were locked on mine, unflinching.

_Shit._ I had totally forgotten about Tasha talking to Victor Dashkov and Kirova. I bite my lower lip. "No, I want to keep training with you, But this girl Tasha, she kind of got confused and thought I didn't want to."

Guardian Hathaway gave a soft laugh. "Ah, I see. Well do you want to keep training with me or not?"

"Yeah. Yeah I do Guardian Hathaway." I answer straight away. She gives a little laugh then sits herself carefully on the bed beside me, at the proximity the smell of her perfume fills my nostrils.

"How'd you end up as Lissa's guardian?" I ask. "You weren't here a few years ago. Were you trained at this school?"

She didn't answer right away. I got the feeling that she didn't talk about herself very often. "I attended St Vlads for 4 years before moving to Turkey and attending the academy there."

"Wow Turkey, is that why you have a slight accent sometimes?" I responded.

A glint of something- maybe amusement sparked in her eyes. "After I graduated, I was a guardian for Dashkov Princess. She was killed recently." Her smile dropped, her face grew dark. "They sent me here because they needed extras on the campus, when the princess turned up, they assigned me to her, since I'd already be around and wouldn't stand out following a teenager around because honestly, I still look like one, Not that it matters till she leaves campus."

I thought about what she had said before. Some Strigoi killed the girl she was supposed to be guarding? "Did this princess die on your watch?"

"Natalie, No. She was with her other Guardian. I was away."

She fell silent, her mind obviously somewhere else. The Moroi expected a lot from us, but they did recognize that the guardians were –more or less- humans. So, guardians got pay and time off like you would get in any other job. But some hard-core guardian's refused vacations, vowing to never leave their charges side. Looking at Guardian Hathaway now I had a feeling she might very well turn out to be one of those. If she's been on legitimate leave, she could hardly blame herself for what happened to that girl. Still, she probably did anyway. I'd blame myself too if something happened to Lissa.

"Hey," I said suddenly wanting to cheer her up, "did you come up with that plan to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that."

Her lips parted softly, her warm breath rushed over my skin causing a shiver down my back I hope she didn't notice. "You're complementing me on that?"

"Well it worked didn't it?" i replied.

"Just when I think I have you figured out, you say something like that." She laughed before standing up. "Well it's late, you better get some sleep, training bright and early tomorrow morning Dimitri." She gave me another small smile before leaving.

Her perfume still lingered in the room and suddenly I felt oddly alone without her bright personality.

The next morning when I got to the gym for training Guardian Hathaway was in her work out clothes, which was a good sign. When I had changed into mine I came out of the gym to find her stretching, Standing firm on her feet and slowly bending till her palms touched her foot, from here I had the perfect view of her arse. After a second I shook my head and cleared my throat.

"I decided I'm going to be running laps with you today to see if it will increase your times." She said smiling at my blank face.

We set out on the chilly October evening, and I was grateful for the company, and having Guardian Hathaway there really did push me to run faster, I wanted to impress her, When I was at my 5th last lap Tasha Ozera walked out onto the field. She cheered my name, jumping up and down clapping her hands. I smiled at her giving her a wave.

Beside me Guardian Hathaway made a soft grunting noise. "You're slowing down Belikov." She snapped, jerking my gaze away from Tasha. The harshness in her voice startled me. "is this why your times aren't getting any faster? You're easily distracted?"

Embarrassed, I increased my speed once more, despite my body screaming obscenities at me. We finished the laps, and when she checked , she found we'd shaved two minutes off my best time.

"Not too bad, huh?" I crowed when we headed back inside for cool-down streaches. "Looks like I could get as far as the Limited before the Strigoi got me at the mall. Not sure how Lissa would do."

"If she was with you Dimitri, she'd be okay."

I looked down at her in surprise. It was one of the first real complements she had paid me since I started training with her. Her big brown eyes watched me, both approving and amused.

And that's when it happened.

It felt like someone had shot me. Sharp and biting terror exploded in my body and in my head. Small razors of pain, my vision blurred, and for I moment I wasn't standing there. I was running down a flight of stairs, scared and desperate, needing to get out of there, needing to find . . . Me.

My vision cleared, leaving me back on the track and out of Lissa's head. Without a word to Guardian Hathaway, I tore off, running as fast as I could toward the Moroi dorm. I was aware of Hathaway catching up to me, asking me what was wrong, but I couldn't answer her. I had one task and one alone; get to the dorm.

Its looming, ivy-covered form was just coming into view when Lissa met up with us, her face streaked with tears. I came to a jarring stop, my lungs ready to burst.

"What's wrong? What happened?" I demanded, clutching her arms, forcing her to look into my eyes.

But she couldn't answer. She just flung her arms around me, sobbing into my chest. I held her there, stroking her sleek, silky hair while I told her it was going to be all right –whatever 'it' was. And honestly, I didn't care what It was just then. She was here and she was safe, which was all that mattered. Guardian Hathaway hovered over us, alert and ready for any threat, her body coiled to attack. I felt safer with her beside me.

A half hour later, we were crammed inside Lissa's dorm room with three other guardians, Mrs Kirova, and the hall matron. This was the first time I'd seen Lissa's room. Lissa had as few possessions as I did, she had one picture taped to the wall, a picture taken from last Halloween, when she'd dressed up like a fairy, complete with glittery makeup and wings and I'd dressed up like a cowboy. Seeing that picture and remembering how things used to be, made a dull pain form in my chest.

With all the excitement, no one seemed to realise that I wasn't supposed to be in there. Outside in the hall, other Moroi girls crowded around together, trying to figure out what was going on. Suddenly Tasha Ozera, who as of two days ago –because of a gas leak- had the pleasure of sharing Lissa's dorm room pushed her way through them, wondering what the commotion in her room was. When she discovered it, she came to a screeching halt.

Shock and disgust showed on almost everyone's faces as we stared at Lissa's bed. There was a fox on the pillow. Its coat was reddish-orange, tinged in white. It looked so soft and cuddly that it could have been a pet, perhaps a cat, something you'd hold in your arms and cuddle.

Aside from the fact that its throat had been slit.

The inside of the throat looked pink and jellylike. Blood stained the soft coat and had run down onto the yellow bedspread, forming a dark pool that spread across the fabric.

Nausea built up in my stomach, but I forced myself to keep looking. I couldn't afford to be squeamish. I'd be killing Strigoi someday. If I couldn't handle a fox, I'd never survive major kills.

What had happened to the fox was sick and twisted obviously done by someone too fucked up for words. Lissa stared at it, her face death-pale, and took a few steps toward it, hand involuntarily reaching out. This gross act hit her hard, I knew digging at her love of animals. She loved them, they loved her. While on our own she begged me often for a pet, but I'd always refuse and reminded her we couldn't take care of one when we might have to flee at a moment's notice. Plus they hated me. So she'd contented herself with helping and patching up strays she found and making friends with other peoples cats, like Oscar –our roommate's cat-.

She couldn't patch this fox up, though. There was no coming back for it, but I saw in her face she wanted to help it, like she helped everything. I took her hand and steered her away, suddenly recalling a conversation two years ago.

"_What is that? Is it a crow?"_

"_Too big, it's a raven."_

"_Is it dead?"_

"_Yeah. Definitely dead. Don't touch it."_

She hadn't listened to me back then. I hoped she would now.

"It was still alive when I got back." She whispered to me clutching my arm. "Barely, oh god, it was twitching. It must have suffered so much."

I felt bile rise up in my throat now. Under no circumstances would I throw up. "Did you-?"

"No I wanted to . . . . I started to . . . ."

"Then forget about it," I said sharply. "It is stupid. Somebody's stupid joke. They'll clean it up. Probably even give you a new room if you want."

She turned to me, eyes almost wild. "Dimitri . . . do you remember that one time. . ."

"Stop it," I said. "Forget about it. This isn't the same thing."

"What if someone saw? What is someone knows?. . ."

I tightened my grip on her arm, digging my nails in to get her attention, she flinched. "No it's not the same. It has nothing to do with that. Do you hear me?" I could feel both Tasha and Guardian Hathaway's eyes on us. "It's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay."

Not looking like she believed me at all, Lissa nodded.

"Get this cleaned up." Kirova snapped to the matron. "and find out if anyone saw anything."

Someone realised I was there and ordered Guardian Hathaway to take me away, no matter how much I begged them to let me stay with Lissa. She walked me back to the novice's dorm. She didn't speak until we were almost there. "You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Kirova that Lissa was in danger?"

"I don't know anything. It's just some sick joke."

"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?"

I considered this. Before we'd left, it could have been any number of people. That's what it was like when you were popular, people loved you, people hated you. But now? Lissa had faded off to a certain extent. The only person who really truly despised her was Mia. But Mia seemed to fight her battles with words, not actions. And ever then if she did decide to do something more aggressive. Why do this? She didn't seem like the kind of person to do this. There were a million ways to get back at a person.

"No," I told her. "No clue."

"Dimitri, If you know something, tell me. We're on the same team. We both want to protect her. This is serious."

I spun around, taking my anger out on her. "Yeah, it _is_ serious. And you have me doing laps every day when I should be learning how to fight and defend her! If you want to help her, than teach me something! _teach me how to fight_. I already know how to run away."

I didn't realize until that moment how badly I did want to learn, how I wanted to prove myself to her, to Lissa, and to everyone else. The fox incident had made me feel powerless and I didn't like that. I wanted to do something, _anything_.

Guardian Hathaway watched my outburst calmly, with no change in her expression. When I finished, she simply beckoned me forward like I hadn't said anything. "Come on, you're late for practice."

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think?<strong>

**I am enjoying writing this, so I hope you are all enjoying reading it!**

**I am very underwhelmed by the amount of reviews I'm getting, which makes me sad because I love hearing from you!**

**I would love someone to discuss my next chapter with, I'm having trouble deciding how I want the 'deserted room' scene to go, so if you would like to help me decide let me know!**

**P.s: Yes I have read all of the Vampire Academy books *more than once* & the 'Vampire Academy guide" and I have read "Bloodlines", "Golden lily" and am reading "Indigo spell" but I miss Rose & Dimitri... (: **

**I love you all and thanks for reading!**

**Farewell; until next time.**

**XOX**

**A.**


	6. Animal farm: Chapter 6

Burning with anger, I fought harder and better that day than I ever had in any of my classes with the novices. So much so that I finally won my first hand-to-hand pairing, annihilating Shane Reyes. We'd always gotten along, and he took it good-naturedly, applauding my performance, as did a few others.

"The comeback's starting," called a sweet voice beside me. I turned to see Guardian Hathaway leaning against the gym doors after class. She was in her regular black guardian uniform. Her brown hair like always tied back, but this time it was in a tight pony tail.

"So it would seem." I smiled.

She gently touched my arm. "How's Lissa?" she asked. I could hear the concern in her voice.

"Okay. Copping." I answered.

Guardian Hathaway nodded softly, "Just keep me posted okay Dimitri?" she said before ducking out and getting lost in the sea of students in the corridor. It was funny, it really seemed like Guardian Hathaway really did care about Lissa and I, my stomach clenched lightly, she really was amazing.

Lissa was still shaken when I met her for lunch later, her mood made worse when Jessie and his friends sat with us and wouldn't shut up about the fox.

"And it was just _there_," he explained, waving his hands for emphasis. "Right in the middle of the bed. There was blood _everywhere_."

Lissa looked as green as the sweater she wore, and I pulled her away before I even finished my food and immediately lunched into a string of obscenities about Jessie's social skills.

"He is nice." Lissa said automatically. "He has been really sweet and comforting towards me." I rolled my eyes at her making a gagging noise.

"He is a complete idiot Lissa, how can't you see that?" Lissa just shook her head at me.

We stood outside our animal behaviour class, and I noticed people giving us curious looks and whispering as they passed us. I sighed.

"How are you with all of this?"

A half-smile crossed her face. "Can't you already feel it?"

"Yeah, but I want to hear it from you."

"I don't know. I'll be okay. I wish everyone wouldn't keep staring at me like I'm some kind of freak."

My anger exploded again. The fox was bad. People upsetting her made it worse, but at least I could do something about them. "Who's bothering you?"

"Dimitri, you can't beat up everyone we have a problem with."

"The hell I can't, and it's Mia right?" I guessed.

"And others," she said evasively. "Look it doesn't matter. What I want to know is how this could have . . . that is, I can't stop thinking about that time—"

"Don't." I warned.

"Why do you keep pretending that didn't happen? You of all people. You made fun of Jessie for going on and on, but it's not like you've got a good grip on your control switch. You'll normally talk about anything."

"But not that! We need to forget about it. It was a long time ago. We don't even really know what happened."

She stared at me with those big green eyes, calculating her next argument.

"Hey, Dimitri."

Our conversation dropped as Tasha strolled up to us. I turned on my best smile.

"Hey."

She nodded cordially to Lissa. "So hey, I'm going to be in your dorm tonight for a study project. You think . . . maybe . . . we could hang out?"

Momentarily forgetting Lissa, I focused all my attention on Tasha. Suddenly I so needed something to get my mind off everything happening. "Sure."

She told me she would be there, and I told her I'd meet her in one of the common areas with 'further instructions.'

Lissa stared at me when she left. "You're under house arrest they won't let you hang out and talk to her."

I just shook my head and smiled at her. "There are always ways Lissa."

Once animal behaviours started I pondered the likelihood of Mia being responsible. From the smug look on her psycho-angel face, she certainly seemed to be enjoying the sensation caused by the bloody fox. But that didn't mean she was the culprit, and after observing her over the last couple of weeks, I knew she enjoyed anything that upset Lissa and me. She didn't need to be the one who had done it.

"Wolves, like any species, differentiate their packs into alpha males and alpha females whom the others defer to. Alphas are most always the strongest physically, though many times, confrontation turns out to be more a matter of willpower and personality. When an alpha is challenged and replaced, that wolf may find himself ostracized from the group or even attacked."

I looked up from my daydreams and focused on Ms. Meissner.

"Most challenges are likely to occur during mating season," she continued. This naturally, brought snickers from the class. "In most packs, the alpha pair are the_ only_ ones who mate. If the alpha male is an older, seasoned wolf, a younger competitor may think he has a shot. Whether that is true works on a case-by-case basis. The young often don't realize how seriously outclasses they are by the more experienced."

The old-and-young-wolf thing notwithstanding, I thought the rest was pretty relevant. Certainly in the academy's social structure. I decided bitterly, there seemed to be a lot of alphas and challenges here.

Mia raised her hand. "What about foxes? Do _they_ have alphas too?"

There was a collective intake of breath from the class, followed by a few nervous giggles. No one could believe Mia had gone there.

Flushed with what I suspect was anger Ms. Meissner yelled at Mia. "We're discussing wolves today, Miss Rinaldi."

Mia didn't seem to mind the subtle chastising, and when the class paired off to work on an assignment, she spent more time looking over at us and giggling. Through the bond, I could feel Lissa growing more and more upset as images of the fox kept flashing through her head.

"Don't worry," I told her. "I've got a way-"

"Hey, Lissa" someone interrupted.

We both looked up to see Ralf Sarcozy stopped by our desks. He wore his trademark stupid grin, and I had a feeling he'd come over here on a dare from his friends.

"So, admit it," he said. "You killed that fox. You're trying to convince Kirova you're crazy so that you can get out of here again."

"Screw you, you small dicked wonder" I told him in a low voice.

He cocked his head in an overly dramatic fashion. "Hey, I just got it: it was you wasn't it?" he looked at Lissa, then back at me. "She got _you_ to kill the fox, didn't she? Some weird kind of sexual voo-ahhh"

Ralf burst into flames.

I jumped up and pushed Lissa out of the way- not easy to do, since we were sitting at our desks. We both eneded up on the floor as screams –Ralfs in particular- filled the classroom and Ms. Meissner sprinted for the fire extinguisher.

And then, just like that, the flames disappeared. Ralf was still screaming and patting himself down, bbut he didn't have a single mark on him. The only indication of what had happned was the lingering smell of smoke in the air.

For several seconds the whole classroom froze. Then, slowly, everyone put the pieces together. Moroi specializations were well known, and after scanning the room, I deduced three fire users: Ralf, his friend Jacob and-

Christian Ozera.

Since neither Jacob nor Ralf would have set Ralf on fire, it sort of made the culprit obvious. The fact that Christian Ozera was laughing hysterically, clutching his stomach sort of gave it away too.

Ms. Meissner's face changed from red to deep purple. "Mr. Ozera!" she screamed. "How dare you- do you have any idea- report to Headmistress Kirova's office now!"

Christian, completely unfazed, stood up and slung his backpack over one shoulder. That smirk stayed on his face. "Sure thing, Ms. Meissner."

He went out of his way to walk past Ralf, who quickly cowered away as he passed. The rest of the class stared open mouthed.

After that, Ms. Meissner attempted to return the class to normal. But it was a lost cause. No one could stop talking about what had happened. It was shocking on a few different levels. It suddenly occurred to me that Christian might really and truly be a psycho.

"Liss," I said as we walked out of class, "Please tell me you haven't hung out with him again?"

The guilt that flickered thorugh the bond told me more than any expression could.

"Liss!" I grabbed her arm pulling her to me gently.

"Not that much," she said uneasily. "He's really is okay Dimitri-"

"Okay? _Okay?_" people in the hall stared at us. I realized I was practically shouting. "He's out of his mind. _He set Ralf on fire_. on _fire_ Lissa. I thought we decided you shouldn't see him anymore."

"You decided, Dimitri, not me." There was an edge in her voice I hadn't heard in a while.

"What's going on here? Are you guys . . . you know? . . ."

"No!" she insisted. "We are just friends Dimitri . . ." she shot me a look of disgust.

I frowned at her. Then we noticed that Mia was passing by. She hadn't heard the conversation but had caught the tone. A snide smirk spread over her face. "Trouble in paradise guys?"

"How about you go find your pacifier, and shut the hell up Mia you troll doll," I told her, not waiting to here a response. Her mouth dropped open, then turned into a scowl.

Lissa and I walked on in silence, and then Lissa burst out laughing and I soon joined in. Like that, our fight diffused.

"Dimitri . . ." her tone was softer now.

"Lissa, I think he's dangerous. I don't like him. Please be careful."

She touched my arm. "I am. I'm the cautious one, remember? You're the reckless one."

I hoped that was still true.

But later, after school, I had my doubts. I was in my room doing homework when I felt a trickle of what could only be called sneakiness coming from Lissa. Losing track of my work, I stared off into space, trying to get a more detailed understanding of what was happening to her. If ever there was a time for me to slip into her mind, it was now, but i didn't know how to control it.

Frowning, I tried to think what normally made that connection occur. Usually she was experiencing some strong emotion, an emotion so powerful it tried to blast into my mind. I had to work hard to fight against that: I always sort of kept a mental wall up.

Focusing on her now, I tried to remove the wall. I steadied my breathing and cleared my mind. My thoughts didn't matter, only hers did. I needed to open myself to her and let us connect.

I'd never done anything like this before: I didn't have the patience for meditation. My need was so strong, however, that I forced myself into an intense, focused relaxation. I needed to know what was going on with her, and after a few more moments, my effort paid off.

I was in.

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><p>I'm sorry that this isn't a very long chapter.<p>

this is a filler chapter leading into something bigger.

I am getting my ideas in order for the deserted room scene with the help of RoseLissaBelikova so thank you!

I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway and remember to keep reviewing and letting me know your thoughts and ideas!

I love you all

XOX

A.


	7. Evil Master Mind: Chapter 7

I snapped into her mind, once again seeing and directly experiencing what went on around her.

She was sneaking into the chapel's attic again, confirming my worst fears. Like last time, she met no resistance. _Good god,_ I though, _could that priest be any worse about securing his own chapel?_

Sunrise lit up the stained-glass window, and Christian's silhouette was framed against it: he was sitting in the window seat.

"You're late," he told her. "I've been waiting a while."

Lissa pulled up one of the rickety chairs, brushing dust off it. "I figured you'd be tied up with Headmistress Kirova."

He shook his head. "Not much to it. They suspended me for a week, that's all. Not like it's hard to sneak out." He waved his hands around smirking. "As you can see."

"I'm surprised you didn't get more time than that."

A patch of sunlight lit up his crystal-blue eyes. "Disappointed?"

She looked shocked. "You set someone on _fire_!"

"No, I didn't. Did you see any burns on him?"

"He was covered in flames. I saw that!"

"I had them under control. I kept them off of him."

She sighed. "You shouldn't have done that."

Straightening out of his lounging position, he sat up and leaned toward her. "I did It for you."

"You attacked someone for me?"

"Sure. He was giving you and Dimitri a hard time. He was doing an okay job against him, I guess, but I figured he could use backup. Besides, this'll shut everyone else up about the whole fox thing, too."

"You shouldn't have done that," she repeated, looking away. She didn't know who to feel about this 'generosity.' "And don't act like this was all for me. You _liked_ doing it. Part of you wanted to – just because."

Christian's smug expression dropped, replaced by one of uncharacteristic surprize. Lissa might not be psychic, but she had a startling ability to read people.

Seeing him off guard, she continued. "Attacking someone else with magic is forbidden—and that's exactly why you wanted to do it. You got a thrill out of it."

"Those rules are stupid. If we used magic as a weapon instead of just for warm and fuzzy shit, Strigoi wouldn't keep killing so many of us."

"It's wrong," she said firmly. "Magic is a gift. It's peaceful."

"Only because they say it is. You're repeating the line we've been fed our whole lives." He stood up and paced the small space of the attic. "It wasn't always that way, you know. We used to fight, right along with the guardians—centuries ago. Then people starting getting scared and stopped. It was safer to just hide. They forgot the attack spells."

"Then how do you know that one?"

He crooked a smile at her. "Not everyone forgot."

"Like your family? Like your parents?"

The smile disappeared. "You don't know anything about my parents."

His face darkened, his eyes grew hard. To most people he might have appeared scary and intimidating, but as Lissa studied and admired his features, he suddenly seemed very vulnerable to her.

"You're right." She admitted softly, after a minute. "I don't. I'm sorry."

For the second time in this meeting, Christian looked astonished. Probably no one apologized to him that often, Certainly when no one actually listened to him. Then like usual, he quickly turned into his cocky self.

"Forget it." Abruptly, he stopped pacing and knelt in front of her so they could look each other in the eye. Feeling him so close made her hold her breath. A dangerous smile curled his lips. "And really, I don't get why _you_ of all people should be so outraged that I used '_forbidden magic_.'"

"Me 'of all people'? What is that supposed to mean?"

"You can play all innocent if you want—and you do do a pretty good job—but I know the truth."

"What truth is that?" she couldn't hide her uneasiness from Christian.

He leaned even closer. "That you use compulsion. All the time."

"No, I don't." she said immediately.

"Of course you do. I've been lying awake at night, trying to figure out how in the world you two were able to rent out a place and go to high school without anyone ever wanting to meet your parents. Then I figured it out. You had to be using compulsion. That probably how you broke out of here in the first place."

"I see. You just figured it out. Without any proof?"

"I've got all the proof I need, just from watching you."

"You've been watching me—spying on me—to prove I'm using compulsion?"

He shrugged. "No. Actually, I've been watching you just because I like it. The compulsion thing was a bonus. I saw you use it the other day to get an extension on that math assignment. And you used it on when she wanted you to go through more testing."

"So you assume it's compulsion? Maybe I'm just really good at convincing people." There was a defiant tone in her voice: understandable, considering her fear and anger. Only she delivered it with a toss of her hair—which if I didn't know any better—might have been considered flirtatious. And I did know better . . . right? Suddenly, I wasn't sure.

He went on, but something in his eyes told me he'd noticed the hair, that he always noticed everything about her. "People get these goofy looks on their face when you talk to them. And not just any people—you're able to do it to Moroi, probably dhampirs, too. Now _that's_ crazy. I didn't even know that was possible. You're some kind of superstar. Some kind of evil, compulsion-abusing superstar." It was an accusation but his tone and presence radiated the same flirtatiousness hers had.

Lissa didn't know what to say. He was right. Everything he'd said was right. Her compulsion was what had allowed them to dodge authority and get along in the world without adult help. It was what had allowed us to convince the bank to let her tap into her inheritance.

And it was considered every bit as wrong as using magic as a weapon. Why not? It _was_ a weapon. A powerful one, one that could be abused very easily. Moroi children had it drilled into them from a young age hat compulsion was very, very wrong. No one was taught to use it, though every Moroi technically could do it. Lissa had just stumbled into it—deeply—and, as Christian had pointed out, she could wield it over Moroi, as well as human and dhampirs.

"What are you going to do about it then?" she asked. "You going to turn me in?"

He shook his head and smiled. "No. I think it's hot."

She stared, eyes widening and heart racing. Something about that shape of his lips intrigued her. "Dimitri thinks you're dangerous." She blurted out nervously. "He thinks you might have killed that fox."

I didn't know how I felt about being dragged into this bizarre conversation. Some people were scared of me. Maybe he was too.

Judging from the amusement I his voice when he spoke, it appeared he wasn't. "People think I'm unstable, but I tell you. Dimitri is ten times worse. Of course, that makes it harder for people to fuck with _you_, so I'm all for it." Leaning back on his heels, he finally broke the intimate space between them. "And I sure as hell didn't do _that_. Find out who did, though . . . and what I did to Ralf won't seem like anything."

His gallant offer of creepy vengeance didn't exactly reassure Lissa . . . but it did trill her a little. "I don't want you doing anything like that. And I still I don't know who did it."

He leaned back towards her and caught her wrists in his hands. He started to say something, then stopped and looked down in surprise, running his thumbs over the faint, barely there scars. Looking back up at her, he had a strange—for him—kindness on his face.

"You might not know who did it. But you know something. Something you aren't talking about."

She stared at him, a swirl of emotions playing in her chest. "You can't know all of my secretes." She murmured.

He glanced back down at her wrists then released them, that dry smile back on his face. "No. I guess not."

A feeling of peace settled over her, a feeling I thought only I could bring. Returning to my own head and my room, I sat on the floor staring at my math books. Then, for reasons I didn't really get, I slammed it shut and threw them against the wall.

I spent the rest of the night brooding until the time I was supposed to meet Tasha came around. Slipping downstairs through the kitchen- a place I could visit so long as I kept things brief- and caught her eyes when I cut through the main visiting area.

Moving past her, I paused and whispered, "There is a lounge on the fourth floor that nobody uses, it's stocked with movies and a has T.V. Take the steps on the other side of the bathroom."

She smiled up at me. "No worries Dimitri, I'll be done here in about 20 minutes, I'll see you there." She chirped happily.

As I made my way to the lounge I thought to myself how sad it was that the fourth floor corridor was almost completely uninhabited. The drop in guardian numbers over the years meant a lot of the dorm stayed empty, especially the female dorms. A sad sign for the Moroi society but terribly convenient right now.

I walked slowly down the halls, thinking I wouldn't run into anyone down here, but suddenly I was stopped in my tracks by a noise up the hall.

I walked slowly following where the sound had come from, It had come from one of the old female dhampir lounges. When I got to the door I found that it was open a crack. The room was filled with a warm flickering light, probably from one of the old fireplaces. I crouched down, listening. The noise came again.

It was laughter—and not just any ordinary laughter— but a bright, cheerful feminine giggle that sent a shiver up my spine. I pressed my hand to the door carefully pushing it open a crack wider. I could feel the warmth from the fire place from here. The sweet, honey like giggles continued, but I could hear another voice as well, this one was deeper, a man, chuckling very softly.

I continued listening, my ear pressed to the smooth wood. Normally I wouldn't snoop like this but I was hoping for some gossip I could spread around to get everyone's mind off the fox thing, if Christian's idea didn't work out, and for some reason the girls laugh had made my stomach do excited flips. I could just make out a couple on the couch, the girl straddling the guys lap.

I stayed crouched there for a few minutes listening, the laughter had quietened, and all I could hear was heavy breathing. I was about to leave when the girl gasped. I froze thinking she had somehow seen me.

"What are you doing?" She asked breathlessly. I held my breath, how had they seen me? I stood up preparing to face two very angry people. But the door was still almost completely closed. There was no way they could know I was there.

"What? You got excited when I was by your neck?" The guy said, his voice was slurred, like he was drunk. But his voice was familiar, so was hers.

"No. I didn't, I'm not a blood whore." She snapped, there was a creaking like she was getting up from the old couch.

"But you will like it, all you dhamp girls do, I promise." There was another loud creak. I could hear the girls heavy breathing, she was taking in ragged breaths.

"No, I—stop Ad—ah!" she stopped gasping loudly again. Finally I figured out what was going on, The guy must be a Moroi and he was trying to feed from this Dhampir, against her will.

Suddenly I was furious, how dare he think he can take advantage of female dhampirs like that. Without really thinking it over I kicked the door with my foot sending it slamming into the wall behind it and stepping into the room.

"Get the fuck off her." I yelled.

The Tall dark haired Moroi looking up at me. It was Mr. Ivashkov, his brow creased in confusion, his fangs still showing, his white shirt completely unbuttoned. I froze again. _Shit_. I had not expected the Moroi to be a _teacher_. "Mr Belikov." He half grunted half slurred. "Dimitri!" a sweet voice gasped. My head swung down to the figure had pressing into the couch, his body splayed over hers. It was Guardian Hathaway. My mouth fell open. "G-guardian Hathaway. . ." my eyes flew from 's face to hers, over and over. I had no idea that they were together. My eyes landed on her again, she looked terrified. "Get off of her!" I yelled again. The furry in me returning, but this time, knowing it was Guardian Hathaway it was doubled.

"What? Who are you to tell me what to do? My Little dhampir loves it." He stroked her neck slowly, I could practically see him salivating over the smooth skin there. I felt like I was about to throw up. Again without much though I was standing over Mr. Ivashkov. I grabbed him around the waist pulling him off of her. He landed on his knees, I grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him down and driving my knee up. My knee hit him flush in the nose. He screamed in pain, I hadn't done it hard enough to break it, but he would be in a lot of pain.

"Get out of here Adrian, and don't you ever think about touching her again." I growled, shoving him over. I didn't bother to watch him get to his feet and scamper out, my sights were now locked on Guardian Hathaway.

She had half propped herself up, I rushed over carefully sitting her up, she leaned against the arm rest, her skin was warm and smooth to the touch. I looked down, suddenly realizing that she was only wearing a pair of tight jeans and black bra. My mouth dried up, I had never seen anything more beautiful. Her skin was smooth and the colour of the inside of an almond everywhere, her breast perky and full, her stomach flat and toned, her dark hair unbound and splayed around her face, her cheeks pink, her full lips red and her deep brown eyes wide and wild and staring straight at me a slow flush creeping up her skin. How had I never full realized how devastatingly good looking she was?

Guardian Hathaway was quiet and distant sometimes, but she also had a dedication and an intensity that I'd never seen in another person. I wondered how that kind of power and strength translated into . . . Well sex. I wondered what It would be like for her to touch me and—shit!

"See something you like?" she asked dryly. My mouth open and closed a couple of times, trying to come up with a response. But before I could she snapped up her top, throwing it on. She got to her feet a little unsteadily.

For a moment I thought I had been too late and had bit her, but her smooth skin was unblemished. But when she went to take a step around me she stumbled, tripping on her own feet. I automatically put my arms out and caught her. She crashed into my chest her soft hair brushing against my face. I could smell the unmistakeable tang on vodka wafting from her skin.

"Guardian Hathaway . . . are you _drunk_?" I laughed.

"No. of course not." She spat straightening herself out. I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face. "What?" she frowned. "What is funny?"

"Nothing, it's just I would never have pictured you as a drinker, that's all."

"I'm not." She laughed. "It was my day off, and it was Adrian's too, so we were just sitting in staff room, he gave me some vodka . . . I was just going to have a sip . . ." she stopped bringing her hand to her forehead and groaning.

"Well, I'm not expert, but I'd say you've had more than a sip Guardian Hathaway." I snorted.

"Well no shit." She said deadpan. I couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Why do you do that?" she asked, I could hear the confusion in her voice.

"Do what?" I laughed.

"Why do you call me Guardian Hathaway?" she asked seriously.

I stopped laughing arching my brow—confused. "What do you mean? Its your _name_?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "I know that, but you call all the other teachers by their first names, even to their faces, but you always call me Guardian Hathaway?"

I chewed on my lower lip, I guess I did. "I don't know, I guess it's because I respect you, but I don't respect them." I shrugged my shoulders, I had no idea I was doing it.

She laughed softly. "Well that's sweet and all, but when it is just you and I. Call me Rose." She smiled.

_Rose_. . . I had actually forgotten her first name, I don't know how, it was such a beautiful name. it suited her. Like an actual rose beautiful but you didn't mess with her, because she had thorns.

"How did you find me? Were you following me?" she asked laughing.

"No I was here to meet up with T—" I stopped myself and smiled guiltily.

"Dimitri, if Kirova finds out you're sneaking around you will be expelled and there's nothing I can do about it." She sighed.

"What does it matter, there not teaching me anything _here_." I grumbled. "I'm never going to be the guardian I need to be to protect Lissa, I'm not learning anything useful."

"What are you talking about?"

"I want to learn more, I don't want to just do laps anymore Rose."

"You told me you want to fight, to really fight. Is that still true?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Dimitri . . . I can teach you, but I need you to stay focused, and try hard. Can I trust you?'

I felt like I was about to explode, I needed to show her I could do it, I didn't get how she could have such an effect on me. I'd never cared so much about what one person thought about me. "Yes. I promise."

"All right. I will teach you, but I need you to stay strong. I know you hate it but I need you to keep running. You have no idea how strong Strigoi are, and what they are like. The school tries to prepare you, but until you've seen one up close and personal and see how strong and how fast . . . well, you can't even imagine. If you want to learn more about fighting, we need to add more training. It'll take up more of your time. You won't have much left for your homework or anything else. You'll be tired. a lot."

I thought about it, I thought about her, I thought about Lissa. "It doesn't matter. If you tell me to do it, I'll do it."

She studied me hard, like she was still trying to decide if she could believe me. Finally satisfied, she gave me a sharp node. "We'll start tomorrow."

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><p><strong>What did you guys think? <strong>

**did what you think was going to happen happen?**

**if you were writing this scene what would you have done differently!**

**please, please review this and leave your feedback! **

**i'm very sad at the lack of reviewing i'm getting. it makes writing harder because i'm not even sure if people care,**

**but I don't want to sound annoying and keep nagging you.**

**Alas.**

**anyway. I love you guys and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Xox**

_**A.** _


	8. Excuse me: Chapter 8

**Sorry that this chapter look so long, I was finding it really hard to find the motivation to write this.**

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><p>"Excuse me, Dimitri where were you last night? I waited for you for half an hour."<p>

Tasha was standing beside my chair at the canteen, she had her brow furrowed so deeply her eyebrows were knitting together.

"Tasha, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot. It was a friend emergency." Tasha turned up her nose.

"Let me guess, Lissa." She scowled. Suddenly I realised I couldn't tell Tasha the real story. I couldn't tell anyone what I saw. I could get Rose in trouble.

"Yeah, I was with Liss. The whole fox things really upset her." I lied coolly. Tasha stared into my eyes for a long moment before flipping her dark hair behind her shoulder and storming away. I could hear her muttering to herself as she went.

Like clockwork Lissa sat on the chair across the table. Her warm chicken salad on her tray. "Liss." I smiled.

"Good morning Dimitri." She smiled back.

"I need a favour." Lissa just arched her brow curiously. I never asked favours. "if Tasha asks, I was with you last night, you were upset about the fox thing."

Lissa cocked her hair to the side, looking at me with curiosity. "Why? Who were you really with Dimitri?"

I shook my head at her. Lissa was my best friend, surely I could trust her. But this wasn't my lively hood on the line. I cleared my throat at least 3 times before I found my voice. I bent my head into Lissa and whispered, "Guardian Hathaway and Mr. Ivashkov." Lissa's eyebrows shot into her hairline.

"What? Why?!" she exclaimed, but still in a whisper.

"Uh, I was meant meet up with Tasha, and I found them making out. They called me in to talk about it. I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but I thought I could tell you." It was half true, I had caught them making out, but they didn't call me in. I came in there to break it up, and nobody told me not to tell anyone, but it was kind of a given.

"Aww." She whispered. "I bet there such a cute couple, I hope it makes them both nicer." She giggled.

I frowned and had to bite my lip before I said something that damned my story. "Yeah, a real life Romeo and Juliet." I whispered, my worlds filled with thinly veiled spite.

"Well, if it isn't the _looove birds_." A high pitched little voice called from the end of the table. Lissa and I pulled back from where we were bent into each other across the table. It was Mia. A triumphant little grin on her face. Her followers poised on either side of her with the same snarky smiles.

"Wow, good one Mia." I laugh. "You've really hurt our feelings." Lissa looks at me a frown on her face, I know she doesn't want me to keep fighting with everyone who says anything bad about her.

"Sorry did we interrupt your little lovers spat?" she sing songs. Her minions laugh haughtily; giving Mia pats on the back like it was some great come back.

"Listen here, troll doll. How about you and your band of skanks kindly get lost before I start pulling out some of your hideous, cheap, extensions." I snap. Liss and I used to get jokes all the time that we were dating, but it wasn't like that with us and never was, but it usually didn't bother us. But with Mia, that was a different story all together.

Mia screwed up her face; the girls around her went quiet, touching their hair protectively. "Does your girlfriend know that you were sneaking around with Tasha last night, I heard from a very reliable source that you and Tasha were seen planning to meet up in an abandoned room in the dhampir hall." Mia sneered spitefully.

I let out a loud laugh and shook my head. "You're really pathetic, you know that right Mia? Lissa and I are just friends and so are Tasha and I." I said in a voice you might use when talking to a child.

"Does Tasha know that?" Mia said tossing her fingers through her blond bob. I rolled my eyes and stood up taking Lissa's arm and helping her to her feet.

"Well were going to go, I think I'm allergic to that cheap perfume you're wearing Mia, but as always it's nice to talk to you cabbage patch kid."

After walking out of the cafeteria Lissa gave my bicep a squeeze before heading off to the library. I left her, heading back for my dorm. As I did, I passed a number of students gathered in small clusters outside the building. I regarded them wistfully, wishing I had the free time to socialize.

"No. It's true," I heard a confident voice say, Camille Conta. Beautiful and popular, from one of the most prestigious families in the Conta clan. She and Lissa had sort of been friends before we left, in the uneasy way two powerful forces keep an eye on each other. "I heard it was still _alive_. Like, twitching on her bed."

"That is so gross. Why would they just leave it there?"

"I don't know. Why kill it in the first place?"

"You think Ralf was right? That she and Dimitri did it to get kicked—"

They saw me and shut up.

Scowling, I sulked across the quadrangle. _Still alive, still alive._

I'd refused to let Lissa talk about the similarities between what happened with the fox and what had happened two years ago. I didn't want to believe they were connected, and I certainly didn't want her to either.

But I hadn't been able to stop thinking about that incident, not only because it was chilling, but because it really did remind me of what had happened in her room.

We had been out in the woods near campus one evening, having skipped out on our last class. I'd found a bottle of vodka in Mr. Naggy's desk. Lissa had shaken her head in disapproval when I suggested cutting class to go put the bottle out of its misery, but she'd come along anyway. Like always.

We found an old log to sit on near a scummy green marsh. A half-moon cast a tiny sliver of light on us, but it was more than enough for Vampires and half-Vampires to see by. Passing the bottle back and forth-Lissa taking tiny tentative sips- I grilled her on Aaron. She'd fessed up that the two of them had had sex the weekend before, and I felt a surge of jealousy that she's been the one to have sex first.

"What was it like?" I asked curiously.

She shrugged and took another drink. "I don't know, it wasn't anything."

"What do you mean it wasn't anything? Didn't the earth move or the planets align or something?" I laughed.

"No," she said, smothering her own laugh. "Of course not, Dimitri."

I didn't really get why she was being so weird about it. But I could tell she didn't really want to be talking about it. This was the time around when the bond had begun forming, and her emotions were starting to creep into me now and then.

The sound of something moving in the bush came from nearby. I immediately shot up, putting my body between her and the noise.

"It's some animal," she said when a minute went by in silence.

That didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. The schools wards kept out Strigoi, but wild animals often wandered into the outskirts of campus.

"Come on," I told her. "Let's get back."

We hadn't gone very far when I heard something moving again and someone stepped into out path. "Children."

Mrs. Karp.

We froze, and whatever quick reactions I'd shown back by the marsh disappeared as I delayed a few moments in hiding the bottle behind my back.

A half-smile crossed her face, and she held out her hand.

Sheepishly I handed her the bottle, and she tucked it under her arm. She turned without another word, and we followed, knowing there would be consequences to deal with.

"You think no one notices when half the class is missing?" she asked after a little while.

"Half a class?"

"A few of you apparently chose today to skip. Must be the nice weather. Spring fever."

Lissa and I trudged along. I'd never really been comfortable around Ms. Karp; she was weird, and lately I couldn't look at her without seeing those marks by her forehead- like she had scratched at it with her nails- sometimes there were new ones; sometimes the old ones faded to nothing.

A weird fluttering noise sounded to my right. We all stopped.

"One of your classmates I imagine," murmured Ms. Karp, turning toward the sound.

But when we reached the spot, we found a large black bird lying on the ground. With a last, half-hearted shake, the bird went still.

"What is that? Is it a crow?" I asked.

"Too big," said Ms. Karp. "It's a raven."

"Is it dead?" asked Lissa

I peered at it. "Yeah. Definitely dead. Don't touch it."

"Probably attacked by another bird," observed Ms. Karp.

Lissa knelt down, compassion on her face, I wasn't surprized, since she'd always had a thing for animals. Transfixed, she reached towards the raven.

"Liss!" I exclaimed, Horrified. "It's probably got a disease."

But her hand moved out like she hadn't even heard me. Ms. Karp stood there like a statue, her white face looking like a ghost's. Lissa's fingers stroked the raven's wings.

"Liss," I repeated, starting to move towards her, to pull her away. Suddenly, a strange sensation flooded through my head, a sweetness that was beautiful and full of life. The feeling was so intense; it stopped me in my tracks.

Then the raven moved.

Lissa gave a small scream and snatched her hand back. We both stared wide-eyed.

The raven flapped its wing, slowly trying to right itself and stand up. When it managed to do so, it turned towards us, fixing Lissa with a look that seemed to intelligent for a bird. Its eyes held hers, and I couldn't read her reaction thought the bond. At long last, the raven broke the gaze and lifted into the air, strong wings carrying it away.

"Oh my God," Breathed Lissa. "What just happened?"

"Hell if I know," I said, hiding my stark terror.

Ms. Karp strode forward and grabbed Lissa's arm, forcefully turning her so that they faced each other. I was there in a flash, ready to take action if Crazy Karp tried anything, though even I had qualms about taking down a teacher.

"Nothing happened," said Karp in an urgent tone, her eyes wild-looking. "Do you hear me? Nothing. And you can't tell anyone—anyone—about what you saw. Both of you. Promise me. Promise you won't ever talk about this again."

Lissa and I exchanged uneasy glances "Okay." She croaked out.

Karps grip relaxed a little. "And don't ever do it again. If you do, they'll find out. They'll try to find you." She turned to me. "You can't let her do it again. Not ever again."

On the quad, outside the main building someone called my name it was Lissa.

"Dimitri, are you coming to class?" she called walking towards me. "We are going to be late." She laughed, grabbing my arm and dragging me towards Mr. Naggys classroom.

Most of the class Lissa had a very thoughtful expression on her face, I couldn't really understand throught the bond, all I was getting was flashes of images. Eventually when Mr. Naggy told us to break off into groups to work on our projects I asked Lissa. "What's got you so deep in thought?"

She looked up at me from her folder with an exasperated look. "What am I going to wear tonight?"

I just laughed and rolled my eyes, of course. Here I was thinking she was stressing over something pressing, but really she was worrying over what shoes matched the dress she'd picked. But now the images I had got through the bond made sense. They were flashes of different patterns and colours of material.

"I don't know Liss, you have lots of nice clothes, and you look good in anything." I said shrugging my shoulders.

Lissa huffed lightly. "You're no help sometimes Dimitri." I had no idea about clothes, but I was just glad Kirova was letting me go.

We had an assembly tonight. It was November 1, All Saints day—which also meant we'd been back almost a month now. A royal group was visiting the school, including Queen Tatiana herself. Honestly, that wasn't what excited me. She'd visited the academy before. It was pretty common and a lot less cool than it sounded. Besides, after living among humans and elected leaders, I didn't think much of stiff royals. Still, I'd gotten permission to go because everyone else would be there. It was a chance to hang out with actual people for a change and not stay locked up in my dorm room. A little freedom was definitely worth the pain of sitting through a few boring speeches.

I didn't stay to chat with Lissa after school like I usually did. Rose had stuck to her promise about extra trainings, and I was trying to stick to mine. I now had two additional hours of practice with her, one before _and_ one after class. The more I watched her in action, the more I understood the badass-goddess reputation. She clearly knew a lot—her six _molnija_ marks proved as much—and I burned to have her teach me what she knew.

When I arrived at the gym, I noticed she was wearing a t-shirt and loose running pants, as opposed to her usual black trousers. It was a good look for her. Really good. _Stop looking_, I immediately told myself.

She positioned me so that we stood facing each other on the mat and crossed her arms. "What's the first problem you'll come run into when facing a Strigoi?"

"They're immortal?"

"Think of something more basic."

More basic than that? I considered. "They usually will be stronger than me?"

Rose nodded. Suddenly I wondered how someone as small and skinny as her could have possibly killed 6 Strigoi. "Good, now a lot of the time Strigoi will overestimate their own strength, or underestimate ours."

She turned and demonstrated several manoeuvres, pointing out where to move and how to strike someone. Going through the motions with her, I gained some insight into why I took a regular betting in group practice. I absorbed her techniques quickly and couldn't wait to actually use them. Near the end of our time together, she asked me if I'd like to try my new moves out.

"Go ahead," she said. "Try to hit me."

I didn't need to be told twice. Lunging forward, I tried to land a blow and was promptly blocked and knocked down onto the mat. Pain surged through my body—she might be little but she packed a wallop—but I refused to give in to it. I jumped up again, hoping to catch her off guard. I didn't.

After several failed attempts, I stood up and held out my hands in a gesture of truce. "Okay what am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing."

I wasn't as convinced. "If I wasn't doing anything wrong, I'd have rendered you unconscious by now."

"Unlikely, Your moves are all correct, but this is the first time you've really tried. I've done it for years."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her older-and-wiser manner. She'd once told me she was 22. "Whatever you say, Grandma. Can we try it again?"

Rose laughed, flicking her loose pony tail behind her shoulder. "Don't you want to go get ready for the assembly?"

I looked up at the Dusty clock on the wall, I didn't really need much time to get ready but I was suppose too help Lissa pick something to wear, and who knew how long that would take.

"Yeah, Okay."

She walked ahead of me. Studying her carefully, I realised I couldn't let the opportunity go by. I leapt at her back, positioning myself exactly the way she'd taught me. I had the element of surprise. Everything was perfect, and she wouldn't even see me coming.

Before I could even make contact, she spun around at a ridiculously high speed. In one deft motion, she grabbed me like I weighed nothing and threw me to the ground, pinning me there.

I groaned loudly. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

Her eyes looked levelly into mine as she held my wrists beside my head, but she didn't look as serious as she had during the lesson. She seemed to find this funny. "The battle cry sort of gave you away. Try not to yell next time."

"Would it have really made a difference if I'd been quiet?"

She thought about it. "No. Probably not."

I sighed loudly. Still in too much of a good mood to really let this disappointment get me down. There were some advantages to having such a kick-ass mentor—she might be half a foot shorter than me but she was strong and moved at an unbelievable pace so If I could ever beat _her_, I could beat anyone!.

All of a sudden, it occurred to me that she was still holding me down. The skin on her fingers was warm as she clutched my wrists. Her face hovered inches from my own; her knees were on either side of my waist straddling me, her legs and torso actually pressing against mine. Some of her soft brown hair hung around her face, framing it, and she appeared to be noticing me too, and oh _god_, did she smell good, _like strawberries and vanilla_. Breathing became difficult for me, and it had nothing to do with the workout.

I would have given anything to be able to read her mind right then. Ever since that night in the lounge, I'd noticed her watching me with this same, studious expression. She never actually did it during trainings themselves—those were strictly _business._ But before and after, she would sometimes lighten up, and I'd see her look at me in a way that was almost admiring. And sometimes, if I was really, really lucky, she'd smile at me. A real smile, too—not the dry one that accompanied the sarcasm we tossed around so often.

I didn't want to admit it to anyone—not to Lissa, not even to myself—but some days, I lived for those smiles. They lit up her face. "Gorgeous" no longer adequately described her.

Hoping to appear calm, I tried to think of something professional and guardian-related to say. Instead, I said, "So um . . . you got any other moves to show me?"

Her lips twitched, and for a moment, I thought I was going to get one of those smiles. My heart leapt. Then almost like she didn't mean to her face broke out into a full blown smile. Her smile almost stopped my heart. Then with visible effort, she pushed her smile back and once more became my tough-love mentor. She shifted off me, leaned back on her heels, and rose. "Come on Dimitri, We should go."

I scrambled to my own feet and followed her out of the gym. She didn't look back as she walked, and I mentally kicked myself on the way back to my room.

I was crushing on my mentor. Crushing on my _older_ mentor. I had to be out of my mind. She was five years older than me. Old enough to be my . . . well, okay, nothing. But still older than me. Five years was a lot. She'd been starting pre-school when I was born. When I was 10 and still learning my times tables, she'd probably been kissing boys. Probably lots of boys, considering how she looked.

I _so _did not need this complication in my life right now.

* * *

><p><strong>What do you guys think? <strong>  
><strong>I would really like to hear from you because I didn't get ANY! reviews on my last chapter!<strong>

**if anyone noticed I made the Gap between Rose and Dimitri a bit smaller, there isn't too much of a reason but I felt like they needed to be a little bit more closer in age. what do you guys think? **

**I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Read and review!**

**XOX**

**A.**


	9. What self-control? : Chapter 9

"God!" I yelled clenching my hands into tight fists. "Queen Tatiana is such a pompous bitch."

Lisa paled further her long thin fingers running frantically through her hair, she swivelled her head around making sure that no one had overheard my outburst. "Dimitri." She scowled. "You can't say things like that."

"The hell I can't." I yelled again, a few people rushing past on their way back to their dormitories turned to look at me - but just kept walking- nobody paid much attention to my outburst unless they became violent.

We had just sat through 2 and a half hours of Queen Tatiana blabbering on about the importance of royal Moroi blood or some shit. But that wasn't the worst part. Queen bitch-face called Lissa up in front of everyone, basically saying she was a disgrace to the Dragomir family, and that she has to step up and put her royal blood to use. The only thing that stopped me from running up there and kicking her in the knee-caps was Rose, Stationed against the wall a few yards from me, I knew that I couldn't have even gotten to the isle before she had me on the ground.

Lissa had been devastated by the whole thing; I could feel her humiliation and guilt. She was so filled with emotions it was like there was a dark cloud over both our heads.

"Vasilisa!" a voice called. We turned to see Tasha walking quickly towards us. "Oh are you okay, Queen Tatiana said some pretty hurtful things." Tasha leaned over and touched Lissa's arm gently, a small act of kindness, but to mean it seemed huge. Tasha always seemed to hate Lissa so much.

"I'll be okay I guess." Lissa shrugged gently. "I shouldn't have done it." She whispered

"Done what Vasilisa?" She asked

"I shouldn't have run away." Her eyes were locked firmly on the stone walkway below. "She was right, my parents . . . Andre . . . they would have hated me for what I did."

"Liss don't be stupid, you ran away for a reason, Dimitri had to keep you safe." she spoke in a gentle voice, but i could tell she was prying for a reason as to why we left in the first place.

"No, I was weak. Andre wouldn't have run away. He was so good. Good at everything. Good at getting along with people and all that royal crap."

"You're good at that too."

"I guess. But I don't like it. I mean , I like people . . . but most of them are so fake. That's what I don't like." Lissa looked up her eyes sad.

"then don't feel bad about not getting involved. I hardly hang out with the other royals and uncle Vicki is fine with it, he just wants me to be happy."

Lissa nodded sadly. Tasha gave her another pat on the arm. "Well I better go find Uncle Vicki, I'll see you back in our room Lissa."

"See you," said Lissa. "And thanks."

Tasha hurried off.

"Does she really call him Uncle Vicky?"

Lissa cut me a look. "I thought she was your friend, so why are you being mean."

I laughed a little. "I don't know, I just never knew they were that close I guess."

"What?" lissa frowned. "Tasha has lived with Victor for quite a few years, after her sister became Strigoi her parents were so devastated they couldn't look after her properly so Victor took her in, like he has for me."

"Well you know Liss, as much as I hate to admit it, there was nothing that she said that wasn't true." I paused. "I'll kill her, you know. The Queen, not Tasha. Screw guardians. I'll do it. She can't get away with this."

"God, Dimitri! Don't say that. They'll arrest you for treason, just let it go!"

"Let it go? After what she said to you? In front of everyone?"

She didn't answer or even look at me. Instead, she toyed absentmindedly with the branches of a scraggily bush, tearing its leaves between her fingers. There was a vulnerable look about her that I recognised-and feared.

"Hey." I lowered my voice. "Don't look like that. She doesn't know what she's talking about, okay? Don't let this get you down. Don't do anything you shouldn't."

She glanced back up at me. "It's going to happen again, isn't it?" she whispered. Her hand, still clutching the tree began to tremble.

"Not if you don't let it." I tried to look at her wrists without being to obvious. "You haven't . . .?"

"No." she shook her head and blinked back tears. "I haven't wanted to. I was upset after the fox, but it's been okay. I like the coasting thing. I miss seeing you, but everything's been all right. I like . . ." she paused.

I could feel the word forming in my mind.

"Christian."

"Liss . . ." I groaned. "I think that kid is bad news, you know that?"

"Well that's not like that one hundredth time you've told me or anything Dimitri." She muttered.

I was about to say it for the one hundredth and one time of telling her when I heard laughter and the clatter of heels on stone. Mia walked towards us with a few friends in tow, but no Aaron. Imminently my defences snapped on.

Internally, Lissa was still shaken over the Queens comments. Sorrow and humiliation were swirling inside of her. She was _not_ okay, no matter how casual she'd just tried to act, and I was worried she might do something reckless. Mia was the last person she needed to see right now.

"What do you want?" I demanded.

Mia smiled haughtily at Lissa and ignored me, taking a few steps forward. "Just wanted to know what it's like to be so important and so royal. You must be so excited that the Queen talked to you." Giggled surfaced from the gathering group.

"You're standing way too close." I stepped between them, and Mia fliched a little, possibly still worried I might break her arm. "And hey, at least the Queen knows her name, which is more than I can say for you and your wannabe-royal act. Or your parents."

I could see the pain that caused her. Man, she wanted to be royal so badly. "At least I see my parents," she retorted. "At least I know who they both are. God only knows who your father is. And your mother couldn't care less about you, isn't that why she sent you here? She was probably glad when you went missing, actually she probably didn't even notice."

That hurt. I clenched my teeth. "You know, a little birdy told me a secrete about your family the other day cabbage patch kid." I paused smiling wickedly at Mia, I wasn't one for gossip, but Mia needed to be knocked down a peg. "At least my mother used to advise royals, unlike your parents who just clean up after them."

I heard one of her friends snicker behind her. Mia opened her mouth, no doubt to unleash one of her many retorts when one of her 'friends' spoke up. "Is that true Mia?" a tall, blonde, willowy Moroi asked disgusted.

Mia stuttered, trying to come up with something to say, but a couple of her followers turned on their heels and strutted away. Mia turned to us her eyes a-light with anger. Mia pointed at Lissa and glared back at me. "So that's it huh? You do her dirty work because she's too pathetic to do it herself. You aren't always going to be around to protect her," she warned. "you aren't safe either."

Empty threats. I leaned forward, making my voice as menacing as possible. In my current mood it wasn't difficult. "Yeah? Try and touch us now and find out."

I hoped she would. I wanted her to. We didn't need her messed-up vendetta in our lives just now. She was a distraction, one I very much wanted to punch right now.

Looking past her, I saw Rose move out into the garden, eyes searching for something-or someone. I had a pretty good idea who it was. When she was me, she strode forward, shifting her attention when she noticed the now small gathering that had formed around us. Guardians can smell a fight a mile away. Of course a six-year-old could have smelled this fight.

Rose stood beside me and crossed her arms. "Everything all right?" she asked in her smooth honey toned voice.

"Sure thing, Guardian Hathaway." I smiled as I said it, but I was furious. Raging, even. This whole Mia confrontation had only made Lissa feel worse. "We were just swapping family stories. Ever heard of Mia's? It's _fascinating_."

"Come on," Mia said to her remaining followers. She led them off, but not before she giving us one last chilling look. I didn't need to read her mind to know what it said. This wasn't over. She was going to try to get one or both of us back. Fine. _Bring it on_, mini Mia.

"I'm supposed to take you back to your dorm," Rose told me dryly. "You weren't just about to start a fight, were you?"

"Of course not," I said. "I don't start fights where people can see them."

"Dimitri." groaned Lissa. I couldn't help but notice the quick flash of a smirk on Rose's lips before she smoothed it into the perfect guardian mask.

"Let's go. Good night, Princess." Rose said kindly, giving Lissa a small smile.

She turned but I didn't move. "You going to be okay Liss?"

Lissa nodded. "Fine."

It was such a lie, I couldn't believe she had the nerve to try to put it past me. I didn't need the bond to see the tears shining in her eyes. We should have never come back to this place, I realized bleakly.

"Liss . . ."

She gave me a small, sad smile and nodded in Rose's direction. "I told you, I'm fine. You've got to go."

Reluctantly, I followed her. She led me out toward the other side of the garden. "We may need to add an extra training session on self-control," she noted.

"I have plenty of self contr-hey!"

I stopped talking as soon as I saw Christian slip past us, moving down the path we'd just come from. I hadn't seen him at the reception.

"You going to see Lissa?" I demanded, shifting my Mia rage onto him.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and gave me that look of bad-boy indifference. "What if I am?"

"Dimitri, this isn't the time," said Rose.

But it _so_ was the time. "Listen fire boy, if you harm one golden hair on her head, I swear to god. I will snap each one of your fingers in half, and then feed them to you, one by one." He scowled.

"You're not her keeper Dimitri, you can't tell her or me what to do." Christian snapped.

"I'm not her keeper, but I am her guardian. I'm supposed to stop dangerous things from getting near her."

"You're not a guardian _yet_ Belikov." He sneered, before heading off in the other direction, away from Lissa's dorms.

Rose turned to me her brows furrowed lightly. "Yes Dimitri, that is the best self-control I have ever witnessed."

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><p><strong>Sorry this is only a short chapter but that is how long it is in the book,<strong>

**i didn't think you guys wanted me to go into detail about The queen's visit. I'm guessing you've read the book and watched the movies so you know how that bit goes.**

**a few of you might also notice that i didn't have Dimitri telling Christian to take a hike. **

**personally i don't think that Dimitri as a boy would have done something like that, he see's Lissa as a sister so he just wants to look out for her, **

**I hope you guys like my little changes. **

**i hope you are enjoying this, i will try to update more often if i start getting more interest in this (:**

_**p.s. I can't wait for the 'lust charm' scene!**_

**don't forget to read and review!**

**I love you all!**

**XOXO**

**A. **


	10. Sleep my pretty: Chapter 10

Sleep came reluctantly that night, and I tossed and turned for a long time before finally going under.

An hour or so later, I sat up in bed, trying to relax and sort out the emotions coming to me. Lissa, scared and upset, unstable. The night's events suddenly came rushing back to me as I went thought what could be bothering her. The queen humiliating her. Mia. Maybe even Christian—He could have upset her even after I warned him, for all I knew.

Yet . . . none of those was the problem right now. Buried within her, there was something else. Something terribly wrong. I climbed out of bed, dressed hastily, and considered my options. I had a third-floor room now – way too high to climb down from. I would never be able to sneak out of the main hall. That only left going through the "appropriate" channels.

"Where do you think you're going?"

One of the matrons who supervised my hall looked up from her chair. She sat stationed at the end of the hall, near the stairs going down. During the day, that stairwell had loose supervision. At night, we might as well have been in jail.

I crossed my arms. "I need to See Ro—Guardian Hathaway."

"It's late."

"It's an emergency."

She looked me up and down. "You seem okay to me."

"You're going to be in so much trouble tomorrow when everyone finds out you stopped me from reporting what I know."'

"Tell me then."

"It's private guardian stuff."

I gave her as hard a stare as I could manage. It must have worked, because she finally stood up and pulled out her cell phone. She called someone—Rose, I hoped—but murmered too low for me to hear. We waited several minutes, and then the door leading to the stairs opened. Rose appeared, fully dressed and alert, though I felt pretty sure we'd pulled her out of bed.

She took one look at me. "Lissa."

I nodded.

Without another word, she turned around and started back down the stairs. I followed. We walked across the quad in silence, toward the imposing Moroi dorms.

Lissa's hall matron gasped when we appeared, but Rose was too intimidating to oppose. "She's in the bathroom," I told them. When the matron tried to follow me inside, I wouldn't let her. "She's too upset. Let me talk to her alone first."

Rose considered. "Yes. Give them a minute."

I pushed the door open, hoping to god nobody would see me going into the girls bathroom. I could hear Rose pacing in front of the door outside.

"Liss?"

A soft sound, like a sob, came from within. I walked down five stalls and found the only one closed, I knocked softly.

"Let me in," I said, hoping I sounded calm and strong.

I heard a sniffle, and a few moments later the door unlatched. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. Lissa stood before me . . .

. . . Covered in blood.

Horrified, I let out a little yelp of surprize. I heard Rose stop her pacing outside. I almost called for help, but looking more closely, I saw that a lot of the blood wasn't actually coming from her. It was smeared on her, like it had been on her hands and she's rubbed her face. She sank to her knees and I followed kneeling beside her.

"Are you okay?" I whispered. "What happened?"

She only shook her head, but I saw her face crumple as more tears spilled from her eyes. I took her hands in mine.

"Come on. Let's get you cleaned – "

I stopped. She _was _bleeding after all. Perfect lines crossed her wrists, not near any crucial veins, but enough to leave wet, red tracks across her skin. Death hadn't been her goal when she did this. She met my eyes.

"I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean . . . please don't let them know . . ."she sobbed. "When I saw it, I freaked out." She nodded towards her wrists. "This just happened before I could stop. I was upset . . ."

"It's okay," I said automatically, wondering what 'it' was. "Come on."

I heard a knock on the door. "Dimitri?"

"Just a sec." I called back.

I took her to the sink and rinsed the blood off her wrists before quickly put some Band-Aids on the cuts. The bleeding had already slowed.

"I'm coming in," Rose called softly, and calmly.

I jerked off my hoodie and quickly handed it to Lissa. She had just pulled it over her head when Rose entered. She raced to our sides in an instant, and I realized in hiding Lissa's wrists, I'd forgotten the blood on her face.

"It's not mine," she said quickly, seeing her expression. "It . . . it's the rabbit . . ."

Rose assessed her, and I hoped she wouldn't look at her wrists. When she seemed satisfied she had no gaping wounds, she asked. "What rabbit?'' I was wondering the same thing.

With shaking hands, she pointed at the trash can. "I cleaned it up. So Tasha wouldn't see it."

Rose and I walked over and peered into the can. We both pulled ourselves away immediately, I swallowed back my stomach's need to throw up. Looking up at Rose, she had her lips clamped shut hard, and the beautiful glow her skin usually had-had paled considerably. I don't know how Lissa knew it was a rabbit. All I could see was blood. Blood and blood-soaked paper towels. The smell was horrible.

Rose visibly shook herself out before shifting closer to Lissa. She bent down on the ground until they were at eye level. "Tell me what happened?" she handed her several tissues.

"I came back about an hour ago. And it was there. Right in the middle of the floor. Torn apart. It was like it had . . . exploded." she sniffed, Rose patted her arm soothingly. "I didn't want Tasha to find it, didn't want to scare her . . . so I—I cleaned it up. Then I just couldn't . . . I couldn't go back . . ." she began to cry and her shoulders shook. Rose pulled her close and let her cry into her shoulder, gently patting her pale blonde hair.

I could figure out the rest, the part she didn't want to tell Rose. She'd found the rabbit, cleaned up, and freaked out. Then she'd cut herself, but it was the weird way she coped with things that upset her.

"No one should have been able to get into these rooms." Exclaimed the Matron from the doorway. "How is this happening?"

"Do you know who did it?" Rose's voice was gentle, and soothing.

Lissa reached into her pyjama pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. It had so much blood soaked into it, I could barely read it as she held it and smoothed it out.

_I know what you are. You won't survive being here. I'll make sure of it. Leave now. It's the only way you might live through this. _

"I'm getting Ellen." The matron called out determined. It took me a second to remember that was Kirova's first name.

"Tell her we'll be at the clinic." Said Rose. She helped Lissa to her feet and when the matron left she turned to Lissa. "You should lie down."

When she didn't move, I linked my arms through hers.

"Come on, Liss. Let's get you out of here."

Slowly, she put one foot in front of the other and let us led her to the Academy's medical clinic. Lissa had no sooner stretched out on a narrow bed than Kirova and a few others shower up and started questioning her. I thrust myself in front of them, blocking her. "Leave her alone! Can't you see she doesn't want to talk about it? Let her get some sleep first!"

"Mr Belikov," declared Kirova, "You're out of line, as usual. I don't even know what you're doing here."

Rose asked if she could speak with her privately and led her into the hall. I heard angry whispers from Kirova, calm and firm ones from Rose. When they returned, she said stiffly, "You may stay here with her for a little while. We'll have the janitors do further cleaning and investigating, Miss Dragomir, and then discuss this in the morning, in detail."

Kirova gave me a scornful look before her and her group retreated. Once we were alone, I lay down carefully beside her and put my arm around her shoulders. Rose gave us both a small smile, which I returned gratefully.

"I won't let them find out," I whispered to her, sensing her worry about her wrists. "But I wish you told me before I left the reception. You'd said you'd always come to me first."

"I wasn't going to do it then," she said, her eyes staring off blankly. "I swear Dimitri, I was upset . . . but I thought I could handle it. I just had to let It out, I was going to explode, it was too much, I had to—"

I interrupted her hysteria. "it's okay, I understand."

That was a lie. I didn't get her cutting at all. She'd done it before, since the accident, and it scared me to death each time. She always tried to explain it to me, how she didn't want to die, she just needing to get 'it' out somehow. She just felt so much emotionally, it was hard for her and physical pain was the only way for her to take the internal pain away. It was the only way she could control it."

"Why is this happening," she cried into her hands. "Why am I such a freak."

"You're not a freak Liss."

"No one else has had this happen to them. No one else does magic like I do."

"Maybe . . . we should leave? Yes. We should go."

"Dimitri—"

"It's happening again. And it's worse. Worse than last time."

"You're afraid of that note."

"I'm not afraid of any note. But this place obviously isn't safe for you anymore."

Someone hated Lissa. Someone who was probably smiling right now to her face and pretending to be her friend. I couldn't let them destroy her.

"You need to get some sleep Liss." I told her.

"I can't sleep Dimitri."

"Yes, yes you can. I'm right here. You won't be alone."

Anxiety and fear and other troubled emotions coursed through her. But in the end, her body's needs won out. After a while, I saw her eyes close. Her breathing became even, and the bond grew quiet.

I watched her sleep for a while, too keyed up with adrenaline to allow myself any rest. I think maybe an hour had passed when the nurse returned and told me that it was time to go.

"I can't," I whispered, looking down at Lissa's pale lashes fanned out against her cheeks. "I promised her she wouldn't be alone."

"She won't be. I'll stay with her." She said kindly her large brown eyes full of warmth.

I regarded her sceptically.

"I promise." 

* * *

><p><strong>~Rose Point of view~<br>**

* * *

><p>After I dropped Dimitri off in his dorm room I headed straight back to my own room, it was in the academy in the staff dormitories. I lived here for most of the year, but I rented a tiny little apartment a town over with a friend of mine, Sydney Sage. –An unlikely acquaintance—Sydney is a member of a group called the Alchemists, and most of her people believe that Moroi, dhampirs and especially Strigoi are unnatural, their goal is to keep the presence of vampires a secret to humans. But Sydney and I have a pretty good arrangement going on.<p>

When I get to my room I notice my door is slightly a-jar. I slip into Guardian mode instantly, my ears straining for any sound. I slowly creep into the room, my fingers poised above my stake. A dark figure sits in one of my mismatched metal chairs in my sparse living room.

"Adrian! What fuck are you doing here?" I growl, his natural scent hitting me the instant I saw him sitting there.

He turns slowly, getting up from the chair, his hands out in surrender. "Little Dhampir . . ." he purrs softly, a soft whisper like that you would use when calming a wild animal.

"Don't you dare 'little Dhampir' me Ivaskov." I say.

"Rose, I know you're upset—"

"Upset?" I interrupt. "I'm not upset, I'm furious."

"Okay, I know you're . . . furious, but just let me explain, please." He pauses seeing if I will interrupt again. I just lift my chin and fold my arms across my chest tightly.

He takes this a sign that it's safe to continue. "I really like you Rose, I'm really sorry that I took it too far, you know me I get too excited." he smiles at me, like that's a real excuse. "I thought that you had done it before, and that you would like it." He shrugs his narrow shoulders.

I seethe inside. "What the hell would make you think that I had done that before, I'm no Blood Whore Adrian."

"Well when we were at the academy together, you seemed like the kind of girl who was into just about anything. I heard all the stories Rosie, just like everyone else did." He smirks, his green eyes twinkling.

It takes everything I had not to go over there and wipe that chauvinistic smirk off his stupid face. I have to shake my head twice before the red tinge clears my vision. "Get—the—Fuck—out!" I growl.

Adrian gives a little chuckle, before looking at me and realising that I was serious. He skitters to the door, stepping out. Before he closes the door he looks at me with puppy dog eyes. "Rose—"

"All those stories were bullshit, Adrian." I yell before slamming the door in his face. I press my back against the door, my chest heaving as I try to catch my breath. I put my hands on my knees and curl in on myself.

I had begun to think that my past wouldn't catch up with me anymore. I thought that it was safe to come back here again, that everyone that had known that Rose would be long gone.

I wasn't what everyone thought I was, I wasn't a slut, I wasn't a blood whore. Everyone had thought I would do just about anything with a guy if I was feeling in the mood, but none of it was true.

I had heard rumours going around that I had lost my virginity when I was 12, to a royal Moroi no less, oh and did I forget to mention I let him drink my blood during the act. Yeah right, as a matter of fact. I didn't lose my virginity till I was 18, to my first serious boyfriend . . . Andre Dragomir.

When my breathing was back to normal I made my way to my bed, changing into a pair of soft cotton pants, they were white with different sized polka-dots with a pink ribbon drawstring. I through on a thin white singlet and slid under the covers. As I closed my eyes an image of someone flitted behind my lids. A boy, no a man. Tall, tanned skin, dark brown hair –tied loosely into a tony tale—big brown eyes that seemed to never end, filled with curiosity, kindness and immense strength. Dimitri.

I knew that I was wrong, but I couldn't help but find myself drawn to Dimitri. Everything about him seemed to pull me in some way. He was kind. That was obvious in the way he cared for Lissa. But he was brave, proud, and had a great sense of humour, and the fact that he was pretty hot didn't hurt at all.

I pressed the pillow over my eyes biting my lip. I couldn't do this, Dimitri was my student. I was his mentor. I had to distance myself from those feelings.

I lay there for a while till I finally resolved myself. Dimitri would be nothing more than my student from this moment on. I would treat him like I did all my other male students. With small amounts of dislike, and large quantities of sarcasm and chastisement.

I took a deep cleansing breath letting Dimitri out of my mind, just as my phone rang. I grabbed at it blindly in the dark, pressing it to my ear.

"Guardian Hathaway." I said, hoping that sleep hadn't coated my voice.

"Oh, Guardian Hathaway, I hope I didn't wake you," the house maiden prattled. "it's just we seem to have some kind of emergancy."

"it's fine really, I was awake. No rest for the wicked." I said sarcastically. The maiden gave a breathless laugh. "What kind of emergency is it Ma'am?" I asked.

"It's Dimitri Belikov, Guardian Hathaway . . ." she said her voice wavering. Suddenly my body felt like ice. I didn't even hear the rest of what she had said. I dropped the phone and put my gear on faster then ever before.

I was sprinting to the male Dhampir dorms before the phone had hit the bed. My heart was pounding in my chest. What would I do if something had happened to him. He wasn't just my student. I knew that even if I didn't want it to be true.

My heart was about to escape out of my chest before I bound soundlessly up the stairs. I allowed myself a second to compose myself and slip on my guardian mask, smoothing down my hair before stepping around the corner.

My heart swelled when I was Dimitri standing there. He was physically fine from what I could see but his eyes locked on mine where filled with panic. My mind whirled a-mile-a-minute before It clicked.

"Lissa . . ." I breathed. Every nerve in my body freezing again.

Dimitri gave one single nod that caused my insides to drop.

No . . . I had failed Andree, again . . .

* * *

><p><strong>Bum,Bum,Bum . . .<strong>

**what did you guys think?**

**I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long!**  
><strong>I hope it was worth the wait!<strong>  
><strong>what did you think of the way I included Andree? does anyone have any idea of how I'm going to include him?<strong>

**and what did you think of Adult-Rose POV?**

**let me know all your concerns/thoughts/questions/random facts/what you want for Christmas**

**Also let me know some of your favourite books, i need to buy some for my trip so I have something to do while i'm relaxing beside the pool! **

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** I love you to the moon and back!**

**XOX**

**A.**


End file.
